{"id":16725,"date":"2025-10-10T18:22:42","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T13:22:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakalerts.net\/english\/?p=16725"},"modified":"2025-10-10T18:22:42","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T13:22:42","slug":"pakistan-shortlists-probable-squad-for-first-test-against-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakalerts.net\/english\/?p=16725","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan Shortlists Probable Squad for First Test Against South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"text-token-text-primary w-full focus:outline-none [--shadow-height:45px] has-data-writing-block:pointer-events-none has-data-writing-block:-mt-(--shadow-height) has-data-writing-block:pt-(--shadow-height) [&amp;:has([data-writing-block])&gt;*]:pointer-events-auto [content-visibility:auto] supports-[content-visibility:auto]:[contain-intrinsic-size:auto_100lvh] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]\" dir=\"auto\" tabindex=\"-1\" data-turn-id=\"008b053e-366e-4e06-b5b3-cad8c30449e4\" data-testid=\"conversation-turn-44\" data-scroll-anchor=\"true\" data-turn=\"assistant\">\n<div class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto pb-10 [--thread-content-margin:--spacing(4)] thread-sm:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(6)] thread-lg:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(16)] px-(--thread-content-margin)\">\n<div class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] thread-lg:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col grow\">\n<div class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal [.text-message+&amp;]:mt-5\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"35f26d63-ae72-4c6c-9223-8762841e4250\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-5\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden first:pt-[1px]\">\n<div class=\"markdown prose dark:prose-invert w-full break-words light markdown-new-styling\">\n<p data-start=\"1476\" data-end=\"1801\"><strong>The first Test match between Pakistan and South Africa is scheduled to begin on October 12, and the national team management has started finalizing the list of probable players. Both teams are set to hold their training session this afternoon at Gaddafi Stadium, where strategies will be refined ahead of the opening match.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1803\" data-end=\"2118\">According to sources, the team management is planning to field a balanced squad and is considering going with two regular fast bowlers and two spinners. Interim head coach Azhar Mahmood has reportedly been impressed with spinner Asif Afridi\u2019s performance in the nets and is in favor of handing him his Test debut.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2120\" data-end=\"2536\">The likely playing XI includes Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq as openers, with Shan Masood, Babar Azam, and Saud Shakeel expected to anchor the middle order. Mohammad Rizwan is being considered as a wicketkeeper, while Salman Ali Agha provides an all-round option. Sajid Khan and Nauman Ali are under consideration for spin duties, while Shaheen Shah Afridi and Khurram Shehzad are likely to lead the pace attack.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2538\" data-end=\"2685\">Team management is expected to announce the final XI soon, with conditions and pitch behavior likely to play a key role in the selection process.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first Test match between Pakistan and South Africa is scheduled to begin on October 12, and the national team management has started finalizing the list of probable players. Both teams are set to hold their training session this afternoon at Gaddafi Stadium, where strategies will be refined ahead of the opening match. According to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16726,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAowgLK2DA:productID":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,46,38],"tags":[3504,804,1405,62,8849,1635,1791],"class_list":["post-16725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-important-news","category-latest","category-sports","tag-cricket","tag-gaddafi-stadium","tag-national-team","tag-pakistan","tag-probable-squad","tag-south-africa","tag-test-series"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakalerts.net\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakalerts.net\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakalerts.net\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakalerts.net\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakalerts.net\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16725"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pakalerts.net\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16727,"href":"https:\/\/pakalerts.net\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16725\/revisions\/16727"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakalerts.net\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakalerts.net\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakalerts.net\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakalerts.net\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}