Pakistan have released Zahid Mahmood and Noman Ali from the test squad
Pakistan released leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood and left-arm orthodox spinner Noman Ali from their squad on the first day of the first Test against England in Multan, as confirmed by the team’s media manager to Cricpulse.
Pakistan had initially announced a 15-player squad for the first Test, with Mahmood being a late addition, making him the 16th member.
Mahmood, who has played only two Test matches, both during England’s tour of Pakistan in December 2022, took 12 wickets across four innings in that series.
Noman Ali, a regular fixture in the Pakistan side until last year, had to withdraw from Pakistan’s Test tour of Australia last December due to acute appendicitis.
He was also left out of the squad for the two Bangladesh Tests in August and September.
Ali was included in the current series after Pakistan trimmed their squad to 15 and replaced the injured Khurram Shahzad with him.
Ahead of this series, Shan Masood explained that Pakistan intentionally limited the squad size to ensure each player received focused attention from the support staff.
However, with Mahmood and Ali now released, Pakistan is left with only three reserve players—Mohammad Huraira, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Mir Hamza—leaving limited options if concussion substitutes are needed.
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