Zimbabwe have made a slew of changes to their Test squad and have announced a 16-man squad to face Pakistan in a two-match Test series. Luke Jongwe, Richard Ngarava, Roy Kaia, Milton Shumba and Tanaka Chivanga are the five uncapped players that have been named in the squad.
Craig Ervine misses out due to a calf injury, which also kept him out of the last two T20Is. Sikandar Raza, who is currently recovering from a bone marrow infection, has not been named in the squad either.
Meanwhile, the selectors have named as many as five uncapped players in the Sean Williams-led side. Luke Jongwe, Richard Ngarava, Roy Kaia, Milton Shumba and Tanaka Chivanga are the uncapped players who received call-ups. Out of these, Chivanga is the only player to have not featured in an international game so far.
Jongwe was very impressive in the T20I series against Pakistan recently, where he ended up as the leading wicket-taker (9 wickets). He has featured in 33 white-ball games for Zimbabwe so far. Meanwhile, Ngarava who returned with two wickets in the T20Is against Pakistan has played 21 internationals. Kaia has played just one ODI, while Shumba has featured in a couple of T20Is.
Ryan Burl, Wesley Madhevere, Richmond Mutumbami, and Brandon Mavuta, who were a part of the Zimbabwe squad that faced Afghanistan for two Test matches in the UAE, have been dropped. Joylord Gumbie, a wicket-keeper batsman and Takudzwanashe Kaitano, an off-spinning all-rounder, have been named standbys for this series.
The first Test starts on the 29th of April at the Harare Sports Club.
Zimbabwe squad
Sean Williams (c), Regis Chakabva, Tendai Chisoro, Tanaka Chivanga, Luke Jongwe, Roy Kaia, Kevin Kasuza, Wellington Masakadza, Prince Masvaure, Tarisai Musakanda, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Milton Shumba, Brendan Taylor, Donald Tiripano
