Pakistan name Riaz, Alam to face England

Saeed Ajmal will not have the opportunity to replicate his 2012 heroics against England next month after being left out of Pakistan’s 15-man squad for the three-Test series.

The 38-year-old off-spinner made his comeback from a five-month suspension with a remodelled action against Bangladesh in April, but was subsequently left out of the squad which defeated Sri Lanka 2-1 in July.

In 2012, he captured 24 wickets in Pakistan’s 3-0 whitewash over England, who were ranked the No.1 Test team at the time.

But he has performed poorly for English county side Worcestershire since his comeback with 16 wickets this season coming at almost 56 apiece, while fast-rising legspinner Yasir Shah and left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar have filled the void for Pakistan.

The duo were instrumental in Pakistan's 2-0 win over Australia last year and 2-1 triumph this year in Sri Lanka.

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Fast bowler Wahab Riaz has been recalled to the squad to play in the United Arab Emirates, while allrounder Fawad Alam could end a five-year absence from of the Test team during the series.

The 29-year-old made his debut in 2009 but only played two more matches before being dropped.

The pair will return at the expense of fast bowler Ehsan Adil and batsman Babar Azam.

A 16th member will be added to the squad closer to the series, which is scheduled to begin on October 13.

"In the light of captain Misbah-ul-Haq's recommendations, we have kept the options open for the 16th player in the Test squad against England, picking up two left-arm spin bowlers namely Zafar Gohar and Mohammad Asghar for the brace of practice games and whoever amongst the two performs well would be added to the Test squad," Pakistan Cricket Board chief selector Haroon Rasheed said.

Pakistan also named one-day international and Twenty20 squads to travel to Zimbabwe for five limited-overs matches later this month.

Test squad to play England: Misbah-ul-Haq, Ahmed Shehzad, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Fawad Alam, Asad Shafiq, Younis Khan, Sarfraz Ahmed, Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar, Wahab Riaz, Imran Khan, Rahat Ali, Junaid Khan

ODI squad to play Zimbabwe: Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Azhar Ali (c), Sohaib Maqsood, Shoaib Malik, Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Mohammad Rizwan, Immad Wasim, Anwar Ali, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Rahat Ali, Mohammad Irfan, Asad Shafiq

T20I squad to play Zimbabwe: Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Mukhtar Ahmed, Umar Akmal, Sohaib Maqsood, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi (c), Amir Yamin, Mohammad Irfan, Bilal Asif, Wahab Riaz, Imad Wasim, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Imran Khan Jr