LAHORE – The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Sunday announced a 17-playersquad for the first test match against South Africa, scheduled to startfrom Tuesday in Karachi.

The remaining three players will continue to be part of the squad and willfeature in warm-up and training sessions at the National Stadium.

The playing line-up with now be finalised by the captain in consultationwith the head coach.

*The 17-player squad is:*

*Openers* – Abid Ali (Central Punjab) and Imran Butt (Balochistan)

*Middle-order batsmen* – Azhar Ali (Central Punjab), Babar Azam (captain,Central Punjab), Fawad Alam (Sindh), and Saud Shakeel (Sindh)

*All-rounders* – Faheem Ashraf (Central Punjab) and Mohammad Nawaz(Northern)

*Wicketkeepers* – Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) andSarfaraz Ahmed (Sindh)

*Spinners* – Nauman Ali (Northern), Sajid Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) andYasir Shah (Balochistan)

*Fast bowlers* – Haris Rauf (Northern), Hasan Ali (Central Punjab),Shaheen Shah Afridi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), and Tabish Khan (Sindh)