Fawad Alam returns to Test squad after 10 years

Fawad Alam has been recalled to the Pakistan Test squad for their historic home series against Sri Lanka, starting in Rawalpindi on Wednesday, 11 December.

Alam, 34, returns to the Test side after a decade, having last played in the format in November 2009 against New Zealand in Dunedin. He has earned a recall after displaying fine form in the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy – Pakistan's domestic first-class competition.

The top-order batsman has accumulated 781 runs at 71 in the competition, racking up four hundreds and six fifties. In his last six outings for Sindh, he has scored 116, 211, 65, 107, 29* and 92. The three hundreds have all been scored at the National Stadium in Karachi, which is the venue for Pakistan's second Test against Sri Lanka.

Fawad will take the place of Iftikhar Ahmed in the side, after the latter managed just 44 runs in his four innings in Pakistan's tour of Australia. Muhammad Musa, the 19-year-old paceman, was also left out of the home series, with Usman Shinwari being called up to the 16-strong squad. Shinwari picked up 11 wickets in his last four appearances in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, including two three-wicket hauls.

Pakistan squad: Azhar Ali (c), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood, Yasir Shah, Usman Shinwari

Dhaka/AKA