"Fawad Alam is Pakistan's Sanju Samson" - Fans tear apart PCB for leaving out senior players from squad for home Test series against England
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has named an 18-man squad for the home Test series against England. Pakistan will play the defending white-ball cricket champions for three games in the longest format, beginning on December 1.
Abrar Ahmed and Mohammad Ali will make their debuts in this series. Haris Rauf, after an impressive outing Down Under, has also earned a spot in the Test squad. He will replace the injured Shaheen Afridi.
Two notable players missing from the team are veterans Yasir Shah and Fawad Alam. Both Shah and Alam represented Pakistan in their last Test series, which was against Sri Lanka prior to the T20I World Cup.
Many fans are upset with the decision to drop Shah and Alam. They have questioned the PCB for their selection criteria in an important series against England.
Here are some of the best reactions from Pakistan cricket fans on Twitter:
Why fawad alam is not selected?
1. 37 years age
2. Only 112 runs in the last 3 test series, 7 matches https://t.co/wGxD9xYAUx
and why are they not playing Abbas I thought he is their one of the best test bowler
Our 18-player squad for the three-Test series against England 
No Fawad Alam 😂 and why are they not playing Abbas I thought he is their one of the best test bowler
And Sarfaraz Ahmed is still relevant? I didn't know twitter.com/TheRealPCB/sta…
One Bad Series and the Dropped Fawad Alam again
Can't understand the conspiracy against him 😡
#FawadAlam #PCB #Cricket
@ArfaSays_ End of career :yasir shah and Fawad Alam
No Yasir Shah.
Another home series defeat incoming
@AhmerNajeeb But why Yasir Shah is dropped. He is consistent performer . Support team in batting crisis good fielder and better bowler than Zahid Mehmood
@TheRealPCB Inshallah home series Haary ga Pakistan clean sweap ho ga Poor team selection No Fawad Alam No Yasir shah 😣
That might be the end of road for Yasir Shah and Fawad Alam. A sad one especially for Fawad Alam💔
Dropping yasir shah again jo galti Australia ke against ki thi woh ab bhi ki ha inexperienced spinner ko phenta pare ga tu pata chale ga
@TheRealPCB Believe me with this team Pakistan will not be able to win a single match without Yasir Shah Fawad & Alam.
Rubbish selection
#PAKvsEng
@faizanlakhani Yasir Shah way better and way more penetrative than nauman Ali or zahid mahmood. Poor and defensive selection. Forget about winning even a single match with this bowling lineup just like Australia series.
@mushahid345 @mirzaiqbal80 Do we not need a proper leg spinner ? Why is yasir shah out ?
Fawad Alam is Pakistan's Sanju Samson, it seems. #PAKvENG
Injustices keep following Fawad Alam's career. The knives are out after one bad series, overlooking his consistency in the format. Why is Azhar Ali still playing cricket? Love the guy but he's been so out of it over the last 2-3 years.
@TheRealPCB Drop Abrar Ahmed and saud shakeel
Pick Yasir shah and Fawad Alam
Alam failed to make an impact against Sri Lanka. He scored just 25 runs across two innings. He was also poor in Pakistan's previous Test outing against Australia, scoring 33 runs across four innings.
Shah was put on the reserves team for the Australia assignment but made a strong comeback against Sri Lanka, scalping nine wickets in two Test matches.
Both England and Pakistan have very little chance of qualifying for the final of the World Test Championship
Pakistan will play England across three Tests in December. The venues for the games will be Rawalpindi, Multan, and Karachi. The red-ball series is part of the World Test Championship.
Pakistan are fifth in the WTC rankings, with 56 points and a win percentage of 51.85. England are two places further down in seventh, with 88 points and a 38.6 win percentage. Needless to say, the chances of either team qualifying for the final of the Championship are very slim.
Here's Pakistan's squad for the three Tests against England:
Squad: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shan Masood, Saud Shakeel, Salman Agha, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Abrar Ahmed, Zahid Mahmood, Mohammad Nawaz, Azhar Ali, Mohammad Ali.