It has been three years since Pakistan last won a Test away from home. Since their 2-0 sweep over Sri Lanka in 2023, they have lost seven consecutive matches across three continents. To halt the miserable slide, Pakistan's selectors have taken drastic measures by bringing back Babar Azam as captain, who was also in charge when Pakistan won in Sri Lanka three years ago. They have also made a host of changes in the squad which was blanked 2-0 recently in Bangladesh.
Three of the changes pertain to fast bowling. Pakistan's fast bowlers have been under scrutiny over the last few years as their lack of pace and control has rendered them ineffective with both the new ball and old one.
Since the start of 2024, Pakistan's pacers have taken only 92 wickets. Their tally is lower than even Zimbabwe's, and only better than Ireland and Afghanistan, who are not part of the World Test Championship (WTC). The combined average (35.53) and strike rate (58) of Pakistan's fast bowlers is the second worst in this period with Bangladesh (35.82) and Afghanistan (59.4) behind them, respectively.
Pakistan selectors had long hoped that their experienced fast bowlers would live up to expectations, but after Pakistan's second consecutive series sweep against Bangladesh in the format, they have run out of patience. Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali have been replaced with Mohammad Ali, Aamer Jamal, and Ubaid Shah. While Ali and Jamal have returned to the Test squad, 20-year-old Ubaid earned his maiden call-up.
Cricinfo runs the rule over Pakistan's new-look pace attack.
Mohammad Ali
Known as a line-and-length bowler, Ali has been dropped twice in his brief four-match Test career. It took him almost 18 months to play his third Test and now returns to the side after almost two years. He has only six wickets in the format, but brings an experience of 66 first-class matches in which he has taken 244 wickets at an average of 25.03.
He has been in good form recently, taking wickets across first-class and T20 competitions. He was the highest wicket-taker for finalists Sialkot in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2025-26 with 32 strikes in nine matches at an average of 26.84. After finishing as the fourth-highest wicket-taker overall, he took 19 wickets at 23 in six matches in the President's Trophy, the first-class tournament for departments.
But he was in sensational form in PSL 2026 as he bowled at impressive speeds with the new ball and nailed yorkers at death. He was instrumental in Hyderabad Kingsmen's astonishing run to the final. His 20 wickets at 18.95 were the most for a pacer in the tournament and he was just behind Sufyan Moqim on the overall bowling charts. His PSL exploits landed him a contract with Nottinghamshire for the T20 Blast, where he took 19 wickets at an average of 16.21 and an economy of 7.73 in ten matches, before returning to Pakistan for a pre-departure camp. He also played a solitary County Championship match in which he took three wickets for 124 runs across two innings.
Aamer Jamal
Jamal proved to be the enforcer that Pakistan were looking for when he made his debut on Pakistan's tour of Australia in 2023-24. He not only started his career with sixth-best figures for a Pakistani (6-111) on Test debut, but displayed his all-round capabilities in Sydney with a belligerent 82 off 97 balls and his second six-wicket haul of the tour in the first innings. He finished that series as Pakistan's best bowler with 18 wickets in three matches at the back of some ferocious short-pitched bowling.
Pakistan relished the long-awaited arrival of a fast-bowling allrounder, but a back injury ruled him out of Pakistan's next Test assignment - a home series against Bangladesh - and he was more of a bystander when he returned against England because of a radical shift in Pakistan's cricket philosophy.
He last played in the tour of South Africa in 2025, but Jamal has been vocal about his passion for the longer format. He recently tweeted "Red ball is legacy" sharing his in-house PCB interview on the sidelines of the recent camp for red-ball cricketers.
He took 22 wickets at 24.90 and scored 153 runs at 15.30 for Lahore Whites in the seven Quaid-e-Azam Trophy matches. In the President's Trophy, he took nine wickets at 19.22 in three matches for SNGPL and made 100 runs at 16.66.
Ubaid Shah
The youngest brother of Naseem Shah and Hunain Shah, Ubaid, a right-arm pacer, has earned a place in the side because of his ability to hit 140kph regularly. He has 72 wickets at an average of 25.20 in 16 first-class matches and it was only in his third match that he recorded his best figures of 8 for 79 and finished his debut season (2024-25) with 25 wickets at 26.60 across five matches.
Ubaid has come through age-group cricket and he had an impressive Under-19 World Cup in 2024 where he was the joint second-highest wicket-taker with 18 scalps at an average of 12.38. He was also part of Pakistan Shaheens when they lifted the Asia Cup Rising Stars trophy in Doha last year.
He has played only five first-class games in the 2025-26 season, including three games for Lahore Whites in which he took 13 wickets at 30.61 and two for Ghani Glass, where his six wickets came at 30.33.