Azan Awais earns Pakistan Test squad call-up for Bangladesh tour

Azan Awais has earned a call-up to Pakistan's Test squad for the tour of Bangladesh after a 2024/25 first-class season that pushed him into selection talks. The 21-year-old opening batter has yet to play a senior T20 match, but Pakistan have moved him into the red-ball group on the strength of his domestic returns.

Awais and Pakistan's red-ball bet

Awais made his first-class debut in October 2024 and then turned that chance into numbers too large to ignore. He scored 844 runs in the 2024/25 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy at an average of 76.7, with four centuries in the competition.

That output came after a steady climb through Pakistan's age-group pathway. In February 2021, he finished among the third-highest run-scorers in the PCB U16 One-Day Tournament with an average just under 60, and by the end of that year he was already playing three-day cricket at U19 level.

From U16 runs to U19 pressure

His 2021/22 season added another checkpoint. Across five matches, he averaged 50 with the bat, then carried that form into Pakistan's 2024 U19 World Cup campaign in South Africa, where he hit two half-centuries.

The semifinal against Australia gave him another score that fit the pattern. He made one half-century in Pakistan's loss, keeping his name in the frame as selectors looked at the next wave of Test options.

Shaheens form before Bangladesh

By July 2025, Awais was on the Pakistan Shaheens tour of England. He made two half-centuries in three one-day matches and then added 98 in his first three-day knock on that trip, a return that matched the red-ball profile Pakistan have now rewarded.

The selection also points to how Pakistan are weighing first-class production over senior limited-overs exposure. Awais has still not played a senior T20 match, yet back-to-back 800-run domestic seasons and his work with the Shaheens have carried him into the squad for Bangladesh.