Pakistan's Abrar Ahmed celebrates after taking the wicket of Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews during the first day of the first cricket Test match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan at the Galle International Cricket Stadium in Galle on July 16, 2023.

Pakistan have released Abrar Ahmed and Kamran Ghulam from the first match of the Bangladesh Test series, starting on August 21 in Rawalpindi.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) released a statement confirming the release of Ahmed along with uncapped top-order batter Kamran Ghulam for the first match. Instead, the duo will play for Pakistan Shaheens, who are playing unofficial Tests against Bangladesh A alongside the main series. The second four-day match will start on August 20 in Islamabad. The decision was taken to field an all-pacers bowling attack against the tourists.

"The decision was made after the selectors opted to go with an all-pace attack in the first ICC World Test Championship match against Bangladesh at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, 21 August. Instead of benching him for the Test, the selectors named him in the Shaheens squad so that he can gain some match practice ahead of the second Test, which will start in Karachi on 30 August," the PCB release read.

Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Saud Shakeel, who were part of the Shaheens squad for the first unofficial Test, have now joined the main squad.

The series will mark Naseem Shah’s Test return after a long hiatus due to an injury suffered in the Asia Cup last year. As a result, he was forced out of the ODI World Cup too. However, on his red-ball return for the Shaheens, Shah has shown early signs of progress by bowling a hair-rasing spell.

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