Mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed and fast bowler Mohammad Ali have been rewarded for their strong first-class performances with maiden Test call-ups as Pakistan announced an 18-player squad for England Test series.

The three-match series is part of the  ICC World Test Championship.

Abrar, 24, is in red-hot form in the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. Before the start of the last round on Sunday (20 November), Abrar had claimed 43 wickets at an average of 21.95.

Meanwhile, Central Punjab’s Mohammad Ali has been the best fast bowler in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in the last two editions, taking 56 wickets.

Uncapped Mohammad Wasim Jnr and Zahid Mehmood, who were part of the Test side for the three Tests against Australia earlier in the year, are the other two players to return to the side.

There are four changes in the squad from Pakistan’s last Test assignment, which was in Sri Lanka that resulted in the two-Test series ending 1-1. The four players who are not part of the side are Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hasan Ali, Fawad Alam and Yasir Shah.

Pakistan squad for England Tests: Babar Azam (c) (Central Punjab), Mohammad Rizwan (vc & wk) (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Abdullah Shafique (Central Punjab), Abrar Ahmed (Sindh), Azhar Ali (Central Punjab), Faheem Ashraf (Central Punjab), Haris Rauf (Northern), Imam-ul-Haq (Balochistan), Mohammad Ali (Central Punjab), Mohammad Nawaz (Northern), Mohammad Wasim Jnr (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Naseem Shah (Southern Punjab), Nauman Ali (Northern), Salman Ali Agha (Southern Punjab), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Sindh), Saud Shakeel (Sindh), Shan Masood (Balochistan) and Zahid Mehmood (Sindh)