Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali set to play county cricket

Pakistan senior batsmen Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq are set to play county cricket as Men in Green prepare for eight Test matches that are to be played in coming eight months.

Both Azhar and Asad do not play Twenty20 internationals while only Azhar is part of the One Day International squads, leaving them with long breaks at the international level.

Azhar, who played international cricket after a long break looked rusty and only, managed to score at an average of around 12 runs on England tour. Whereas, Asad was also not impressive against England.

Surrey and Somerset are in negotiations with both the Pakistan players as the two counties need replacements for Virat Kohli (Surrey) and Matt Renshaw (Somerset) for the rest of the season.

Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed and head coach Mickey Arthur stressed that county stints will help the two senior batsmen to get tuned up for Test matches.

Pakistan’s pace bowler Mohammad Abbas, who was deservedly named man-of-the-series in the 1-1 drawn series with England on Sunday, will resume his stint with Leicestershire.