He is currently on the verge of full fitness after another six weeks out of action with a torn hamstring.

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Also rested were opener Imran Farhat, pacemen Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif and wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider - while injured seamer Umar Gul is set to miss the rest of the Test series with a torn hamstring.

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"If it (the hamstring) had torn, I'd have been in big trouble and I feared it would be worse news from the scan, " she said.

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Taylor is out with a shoulder injury, Baird has a torn thigh muscle and Evans has an ongoing hamstring complaint.

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