Pakistan recalled veteran batsman Mohammad Hafeez to the Test squad after a two-year gap, on Monday for the upcoming two-match Test series against Australia.
The right-hander wasn’t originally a part of the 17-member team that was announced last week but his experience was something that the selectors might have wanted in the team after a dismal outing in the Asia Cup where they were defeated twice by arch-rivals India.
Sarfraz Ahmed and his men failed to make it to the finals of the multi-nation competition which was eventually won by India.
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Shan Masood was earlier on the radar of selectors but after he could muster only 14 runs while playing for Pakistan A against Australia in Dubai, they looked to Hafeez as an option for the series.
“The national selection committee and the team management has decided to include Hafeez for the two Tests against Australia,” said the Pakistan Cricket Board in a statement.
A veteran of 50 Tests, Hafeez last represented Pakistan in the whites way back in 2016 against England in Birmingham.
His selection to the squad was further aided by the fact that he scored a double hundred last week in a domestic first-class fixture which helped him draw attention from the selectors.
The first of the two Tests begin on October 7 while the second match would be from October 16.
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