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Noman Ali is no longer in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)’s plans for the Tests, as the 40-year-old spinner was not invited to join the red-ball camp. Along with Noman, star fast bowlers like Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi are reportedly not in the plans for the upcoming Test matches.
Pakistan cricket team is scheduled to play back-to-back Tests against West Indies and England respectively from July. Ahead of important games, the PCB is all set to arrange a special camp at its NCA centre. A total of 22 players were invited to the red-ball camp.
PCB ready to arrange a national camp
Regarding the camp at the NCA, the PCB released an official statement on 7 June. While stars like Babar Azam, Imam ul Haq, Salman Ali Aga, Mohammad Rizwan and Shan Masood are set to join the camp, Shaheen Afridi, Noman Ali and Naseem Shah were not included in the list.
22 members who will join the red-ball camp:
Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Fazal, Abrar Ahmed, Ali Usman, Amad Butt, Azaan Awais, Babar Azam, Imam ul Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Awais Zafar, Mohammad Ghazi Ghori, Obaid Shah, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Aga, Saqib Khan, Saud Shakeel, Shahnawaz Dahani, Shehzad Gul and Shan Masood
Proven spinner Noman Ali has been dropped from the team
According to the latest report in Geo News, PCB is not happy with Shah’s working style and has asked him to focus on domestic matches. Afridi has also been dropped from the test.
Noman Ali’s omission comes as a surprise, as the experienced spinner has been one of the regular wicket-takers for the national team in recent times. Noman Ali played his last Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka in May and took 4 wickets. He was dropped from the Sylhet Test.
Before facing Bangladesh, Ali had taken 14 wickets (10 wickets in Lahore and 4 wickets in Rawalpindi) against South Africa during the home Test series last October. This spinner had taken 16 wickets in two Test matches against West Indies in Multan last year. In 2024, when England toured Pakistan, the 40-year-old took 11 wickets in Multan and 9 wickets in Rawalpindi, taking a total of 20 wickets in 2 matches.
Despite taking wickets regularly, Pakistan’s cricket regulatory body has decided to sideline the spinner from its plans regarding Test matches. According to the report published on Pakistan’s new platform, Noman Ali has been dropped from Pakistan’s Test cricket plan and it has been decided to bring forward young spinners in Test cricket in future. In place of Ali, Abrar Ahmed and Sajid Khan will be the first choice spinners for the upcoming five Test matches.
Pakistan has also dropped Shaheen Afridi from the test
On the other hand, Shaheen Afridi played a test match for the country against Bangladesh in Mirpur on May 8, 2026, where he took a total of 5 wickets in the innings. However, the Men in Green faced a cruel reality as the hosts registered a massive win against them.