Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) last week announced 16-member squad for two-match Test series against Sri Lanka.
Veteran wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed retained his place in the squad following his match-saving performance in the last Test series against New Zealand in Karachi. However, Mohammad Rizwan was named vice-captain of the team.
As soon as the squad was announced, a debate was started on social media with people making calculations related to the inclusion of wicketkeeper in the final XI of Pakistan against Sri Lanka.
Some fans think Sarfaraz should be retained in the playing XI following his performance in last series whereas a lot of other fans believe that Rizwan's wicketkeeping skills are more important to the team in longer format.
In last eight Test innings, Sarfaraz has scored 447 runs at an average of 55.87 whereas Rizwan, in as many innings, scored 202 runs at an average of 25.25. In last Test against New Zealand, Sarfaraz scored a century on last day to save the match for Pakistan.
Following Rizwan's poor performance, he was dropped from the playing for second Test against New Zealand earlier this year.
Pakistan, after a gap of almost three months, will take on Sri Lanka in a two-match Test series which will be part of the ICC Test Championship's third cycle.
Pakistan squad
Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vc & wk), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Afridi and Shan Masood
Expected schedule
First Test – July 16-20
Second Test – July 24-28