Andrew
SEAN Williams has been ruled out of the first Test between Zimbabwe and Pakistan pencilled in for Thursday at Harare Sports Club.
According to a statement released by Zimbabwe Cricket on Wednesday, the Zimbabwe skipper failed to recover from an injury suffered during the first Twenty20 last week.
“Zimbabwe captain Sean Williams will miss the first Test match against Pakistan after he failed to fully recover from a soft tissue injury to his left hand in time for the game that gets underway at Harare Sports Club,” read the statement.
“The injury, which had forced him to sit out the second T20I last Friday, flared up during the third game on Sunday.”
With Williams ruled out, Brendan Taylor will captain the squad that includes five uncapped players and a returning Tendai Chisoro.
Among the new faces are Luke Jongwe, Richard Ngarava, Roy Kaia, Milton Shumba and Tanaka Chivanga, while Chisoro returns after having his only Test back in 2017.
Missing are Craig Ervine, who is nursing a calf injury, and long-term absentee Sikandar Raza Butt, who is recovering from a bone marrow infection.
Zimbabwe go into Thursday’s first Test with their tales up, having climbed one rung up the Twenty20 rankings courtesy of their historic T20 win over Pakistan.
The 19-run win, during the second T20 match of the series, sees Zimbabwe leapfrog one slot over Ireland into 11th position of the ICC Twenty20 rankings.
Not to be outdone, Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan entered into the top 10 Twenty20 rankings on the back of his player-of-series performance.
Rizwan hit unbeaten 82 and 91 during Pakistan’s wins in the first and third matches, which saw the Asian side claim the series 2-1.
The Pakistan opener went past Eoin Morgan and Rohit Sharma on the table where Dawid Malan, Aaron Finch, Babar Azam, Devon Conway and Virat Kohli retained the top five positions.
Sports Reporter/Cricinfo
Online Reporter