Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah will be among four players to undergo a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore on June 23 ahead of the side’s tour of Zimbabwe.
The 32-year-old senior leg-spinner missed Pakistan’s tour of Ireland, England and Scotland due to a hip injury with Shadab Khan taking his place in the side.
While doubts still remain over whether the Zimbabwe tour will go ahead due to the ongoing match fees and salary dispute between Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) and the country’s board, Pakistan are nevertheless preparing for it in earnest.
Along with Yasir Shah, Babar Azam, Rumman Raees and Imad Wasim will also be undergoing fitness tests.
Yasir Shah is returning from a hip injury.
Head coach Mickey Arthur and the team’s physiotherapist will be supervising the fitness tests of the four players at the NCA. The team is set to depart for Zimbabwe on June 28 where they will take on the hosts in a five-match ODI series which gets underway on July 22.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board will sit down with Arthur and chief national selector Inzamam-ul-Haq soon to decide the 25 players who will be awarded central contracts from July 1.
The board had earlier been awarding contracts to 35 players at a time but has decided to cut short the number for this year in a bid to improve the financial remunerations for the contracted players.