The Pakistan Cricket Board’s national selection committee has named an 18-member squad for the two-Test match series against South Africa, part of the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27, commencing on October 12, an official statement confirmed on Tuesday.

Shan Masood will continue to lead the side, while three uncapped players — Asif Afridi, Faisal Akram and Rohail Nazir — have also been included. The squad will be further trimmed before the start of the first Test match.

South Africa, who were the champions of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25, will take on Pakistan in the first Test at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore from 12 to 16 October, while the second Test will be staged at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi from 20 to 24 October.

The two-Test match series will be followed by three T20 Internationals (T20Is) and as many One Day Internationals (ODIs) to be played from October 28 to November 8. The squad for the white-ball series will be announced in due course.

The PCB said that players for the pre-series camp will undergo training under red-ball head coach Azhar Mahmood and National Cricket Academy (NCA) coaches later today, until Wednesday, October 8. The players who featured in the recently concluded Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Men’s T20 Asia Cup will join the squad on October 4.

The Pakistan squad will consist of Shan Masood (captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Asif Afridi, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Noman Ali, Rohail Nazir (wicket-keeper), Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

The announcement comes on the heels of Pakistan’s disastrous loss of the Asia Cup to India, in a dramatic final on Sunday marred by political tensions.

South Africa tour to Pakistan

• 12-16 October – First Test at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
• 20-24 October – Second Test at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
• 28 October – First T20I at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
• 31 October – Second T20I at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
• 1 November – Third T20I at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
• 4 November – First ODI at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad
• 6 November – Second ODI at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad
• 8 November – Third ODI at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad