There have been ample instances of knee-jerk reactions in Pakistan cricket recently, but the PCB's decision to send as many as five uncapped players (and seven overall) to England, for a dead rubber, has stunned everyone. Pakistan will play the third and final Test at Edgbaston with the hosts having already won the series 2-0. Cricinfo is at hand to fill you in on the careers of the incoming players.
Arafat Minhas
Among the five first-class cricketers called up for the last Test, Minhas - with three ODI and four T20I caps - is the only one with international experience. The left-arm spin bowling allrounder is the only Pakistan bowler to take five wickets on ODI debut, a feat he achieved earlier this year against Australia, in Rawalpindi.
Minhas has played 17 first-class matches since debuting for Pakistan Television in the 2024-25 season. He had a decent run last season as he played both the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy - after helping Multan qualify for the tournament - and the President's Trophy (played by department sides). He scored his maiden first-class century - 152 not out - against Faisalabad, in Multan's ten-wicket win.
Overall, his numbers in the 2025-26 first-class season read 684 runs at 34.20 and 13 wickets at 30.
Minhas graduated to the top echelons of the game after proving himself in age-group cricket. He played for Multan's age-group teams in the PCB-organised tournaments before being snapped up by the region's senior team. He played in the 2024 Under-19 World Cup and has turned out for Karachi Kings and Multan Sultans in the PSL.
Saad Baig
The Karachi-born wicketkeeper-batter had an exceptional run in the last edition of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and played a pivotal role in helping Karachi Region Blues lift the title by beating Sialkot in the final. Baig was named Player of the Tournament for his brilliant batting form as he amassed 1000 runs at 55.55.
All of his four first-class centuries came in the 2025-26 edition of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and two of them were scored in the same match against Peshawar Region at Islamabad's Marghzar Cricket Ground, which helped Karachi to a massive 218-run win.
He also played for Khan Research Laboratories in the President's Trophy last season. Overall, he amassed 1369 runs at 45.63 in the season with 56 dismissals - 50 catches and six stumps - behind the stumps.
Baig is a product of the PCB's age-group programmes and he captained Minhas in the 2024 Under-19 World Cup where they lost to Australia by one wicket in the semi-final. He has been with Karachi Kings since 2024 but mostly warmed the bench in his maiden season. He struck his maiden PSL half-century this year and made seven appearances for them.
The left-arm pacer from Swat played a crucial role in helping MIT Solutions secure qualification to the first-class division of President's Trophy this year. He took 17 wickets at 27.65 in five matches that were not counted as first-class. He was a team-mate of Abdullah Shafique who earned a Test recall for top-scoring in the tournament, and went on to make a match-winning century in Tarouba.
Imran has played only eight first-class matches. He debuted in November 2022 and has taken 23 wickets at 30.86. He played a solitary first-class match in the 2025-26 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, his only appearance in the format in the last season. He returned with 3 for 85 and 0 for 46 for Peshawar Region against Karachi Region Blues, in the same match in which Baig scored twin centuries.
He has been on tours with Pakistan Shaheens in recent times. He played three matches in the T20 Emerging Asia Cup in 2024 and toured the UK under Saud Shakeel's captaincy for three limited-overs and two red-ball matches, but did not feature in any of them.
His most recent competitive match was last month in the 50-over National Champions Cup in Multan, in which he took 1 for 34 in his only appearance in the tournament. Prior to that he featured in two completed T20 matches for Peshawar against Lahore Whites (1-17) and Faisalabad (0-39) in the National T20 Cup.
Imran recently attended a five-day camp for fast bowlers at the NCA, along with the following two entrants in Pakistan's squad.
Razaullah
Twenty-one-year-old Razaullah made his debut in Pakistan's domestic circuit in the 2025-26 season, playing for Peshawar and Sahir Associates in first-class, List A, and T20 matches. The right-arm fast bowler hails from Mardan and has 30 wickets in eight first-class matches at 20.86. He has three five-wicket hauls in 14 innings.
That he can be handy with the bat lower down the order might have played a role in convincing the selectors to send him to the UK. Razaullah has a first-class century and half-century to his name, both of which he scored in the same match, against Islamabad Region. The hundred came in the second innings when he opened, off 95 balls, with 10 fours and five sixes.
Razaullah was snapped up this season by Rawalpindiz, one of the two new teams in the PSL, and he played two matches for them. He took three wickets at 27.66 with a high economy of 12.45.
He is the most seasoned of the three fast bowlers with over a decade of experience. Randhawa was born in Khanewal and made his first-class debut in the 2015-16 season. The right-armer has 110 first-class wickets at 34.83 in 58 matches and can bat too: he averages 26.52 and has two centuries and ten half-centuries.
He has taken 55 first-class wickets in the last two seasons at 26.45 and captained his region, Bahawalpur, in the National T20 Cup qualifier and the event proper in the 2025-26 season.
He played for Multan Sultans in the 2026 PSL. He also has three BPL matches under his belt as he turned out for Dhaka Dominators in the 2023 edition.