“Shaheen Afridi, who also missed the last two tests against England, has been picked for the white-ball matches as part of his workload management so that he is in his best fitness and form for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025,” PCB said.

Prior to this, bowler Naseem Shah and batting mainstay Babar Azam missed the last two matches against England.

The T20I squad will leave for South Africa on Friday, after Thursday’s third T20I against Zimbabwe, while the ODI and Test players will depart for Johannesburg on December 13.

The series will begin with the first T20I in Durban on December 10 (Tuesday), followed by the first ODI on December 17. The Test matches will be hosted at Centurion and in Cape Town on December 26 and January 3, respectively.

Pakistan men’s red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie will also visit Johannesburg on December 13 to monitor the pre-Test series camp.

Off-spinner Sajid Khan, whose tally of 19 wickets in two tests was key to Pakistan’s 2-1 series victory against England in October, was dropped.

“Leaving out Sajid Khan, despite his stellar performances against England, was an extremely tough and difficult decision,” selector and interim test team coach Aqib Javed said.