Pakistan veteran returns after 10-year absence

Pakistan have recalled 34-year-old middle-order batsman Fawad Alam after 10 years in the international wilderness for their two-Test home series against Sri Lanka, the first in Pakistan in more than a decade.

Chief selector and head coach Misbah-ul-Haq said on Saturday the left-handed batsman was picked because of his recent prolific scoring in domestic cricket.

Fawad last played a Test in 2009 against New Zealand in Dunedin, eight months after a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore, which all but shut the door on international cricket in Pakistan for the next 10 years.

Fawad scored a century in his debut Test against Sri Lanka in July 2009 but was dropped just two matches later and hasn’t been picked since.

He has scored 12,222 runs in a 16-year first-class career at a healthy average of 56.84, with 34 centuries.

Should Fawad return to the XI, it will be the second-longest interval between Tests – 10 years and 13 days - for a Pakistan player ever and the fourth longest this century for players from all nations.

Gareth Batty’s return to the England Test side in 2016 ended a wait of more than 11 years, while West Indian Floyd Reifer (10 years and 172 days) and Zimbabwe’s Mark Vermeulen (10 years and 84 days) also returned to the Test arena this century after an absence of more than a decade.

Former Pakistan left-hander Younis Ahmed, who copped a lengthy ban from international cricket in 1973 for touring South Africa during the apartheid era, had to wait 17 years and 111 days between the second and third Tests of his career, which remains the national record.

Fawad’s return is one of two changes Pakistan selectors have made from the 16-man squad that was recently swept 2-0 by Australia.

He replaces Iftikhar Ahmed while left-arm fast bowler Usman Shinwari comes in for young quick Musa Khan, who will remain with the Test squad and continue working with bowling coach Waqar Younis.

"Our thinking is that we need consistency in the team and that's the reason we didn't make a lot of changes for the series against Sri Lanka," Misbah said.

"There should be continuity so that players get confidence. We made changes where we feel it's necessary."

Misbah was given three responsibilities - chief selector, head coach and batting coach - when the Pakistan Cricket Board removed Mickey Arthur and batting mentor Grant Flower after the World Cup. Chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq stepped down.

"The perspective is that it's a one-man show," Misbah said. "I think there should be a clarity on this.

"There are six selectors who closely watch players in domestic cricket and also do work with the players on their technique. They know all the minus and plus of these players very well and my prime job is the head coach."

The Sri Lanka series, which is part of ICC's World Test Championship, starts on Wednesday in Rawalpindi. The second Test from December 19-23 will be played in Karachi.

Pakistan Test squad: Azhar Ali (c), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood, Yasir Shah, Usman Shinwari.