ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan fast bowler Naseem Shah will return to red-ball cricket following a 13-month absence after the selectors named a 17-member squad on Wednesday for this month’s home test series against Bangladesh.
Shah missed the series against Australia earlier this year after he injured his right shoulder during the 2023 Asia Cup and required surgery.
Rawalpindi will host the first test from Aug. 21-25 while the second test will be played in Karachi from Aug. 30-Sept. 3.
The Pakistan Cricket Board said Bangladesh will arrive on Aug. 17 for the two-match series which is part of ICC’s World Test Championship.
Shan Masood is to captain Pakistan while middle-order batter Saud Shakeel was named vice-captain in place of Shaheen Shah Afridi.
The selectors recalled fast bowler Mohammad Ali, who last played against England in 2022, while uncapped batters Muhammad Hurraira and Kamran Ghulam were rewarded for their outstanding performances in domestic cricket.
Opening batter Imam-ul-Haq, all-rounder Faheem Ashraf, left-arm spinners Mohammad Nawaz and Noman Ali and off-spinner Sajid Khan, who toured Australia earlier this year, were dropped while fast bowlers Mohammad Wasim and Hasan Ali were not considered due to injuries.
Meanwhile, political unrest in Bangladesh has delayed the departure of its 'A' team to Pakistan. The side was due to arrive in Islamabad on Wednesday for two four-day games and three 50-over matches against Pakistan Shaheens.
The PCB has confirmed that Bangladesh 'A' will now arrive on Saturday and will wrap up the tour with the third and final 50-over game on Aug. 30. Islamabad will be hosting all the matches.
Pakistan squad for test series: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel, Aamir Jamal (subject to fitness), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Agha Salman, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
FILE -Pakistan's Naseem Shah prepares to bowl his next delivery during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup cricket match between Pakistan and Canada at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in Westbury, New York, June 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger, File)
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech citizen were arrested Saturday after Venezuelan officials accused them of coming to the South American country to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro.
The arrests were announced on state television by Diosdado Cabello, the nation's powerful interior minister. Cabello said the foreign citizens were part of a CIA-led plot to overthrow the Venezuelan government and kill several members of its leadership. In the television program, Cabello showed images of rifles that he said were confiscated from some of the plotters of the alleged plan.
The arrest of the American citizens included a member of the Navy, who Cabello identified as Wilbert Joseph Castañeda Gomez. Cabello said that Gomez was a former navy seal who had served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Colombia. Spain's embassy in Venezuela did not reply to a request for comment on the arrests of its citizens.
The U.S. State Department late Saturday confirmed the detention of a U.S. military member and said it was aware of “unconfirmed reports of two additional U.S. citizens detained in Venezuela.”
“Any claims of U.S. involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false. The United States continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela,” the statement said.
The announcement of the arrests comes just two days after the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on 16 allies of Maduro who were accused by the U.S. government of obstructing voting during the disputed July 28 Venezuelan presidential election, and carrying out human rights abuses.
Earlier this week, Spain's parliament recognized opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez as the winner of the election, angering Maduro allies who called on the Venezuelan government to suspend commercial and diplomatic relations with Spain.
Tensions between Venezuela's government and the U.S. have increased as well following the election, whose result sparked protests within Venezuela in which hundreds of opposition activists were arrested.
Venezuela's Electoral Council, which is closely aligned with the Maduro administration, said Maduro won the election with 52% of the vote, but did not provide a detailed breakdown of the results.
Opposition activists, however, surprised the government by collecting tally sheets from 80% of the nation's voting machines. The tally sheets collected by the opposition were published online, and they indicate that Gonzalez won the election with twice as many votes as Maduro.
Despite international condemnation over the election's lack of transparency, Venezuela's supreme court, which has long backed Maduro, confirmed his victory in August. Venezuela's attorney general then filed conspiracy charges against Gonzalez, who fled to Spain last week after it became clear he would be arrested.
Maduro has dismissed requests from several countries, including the leftist governments of Colombia and Brazil, to provide tally sheets that prove he won the election. Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, has long claimed the U.S. is trying to overthrow him through sanctions and covert operations.
The Maduro administration has previously used Americans imprisoned in Venezuela to gain concessions from the U.S. government. In a deal conducted last year with the Biden administration, Maduro released 10 Americans and a fugitive wanted by the U.S. government to secure a presidential pardon for Alex Saab, a close Maduro ally who was held in Florida on money laundering charges. According to U.S. prosecutors, Saab had also helped Maduro to avoid U.S. Treasury sanctions through a complex network of shell companies.
FILE - Socialist Party President Diosdado Cabello gives his weekly press conference, in Catia La Mar, La Guaira, Venezuela, Aug. 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)
FILE - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro addresses government loyalists gathered at the presidential palace in support of his reelection one month after the presidential vote, in Caracas, Venezuela, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)
