Rahat Ali

Born on September 12, 1988, Rahat Ali is a left-arm pacer and a right-handed lower order batsman. He first made a national appearance with the ODI squad against Sri Lanka in June, 2012, at Pallekele.

Known for his brisk pace and movement off the deck, the selectors wanted him to bowl on the bouncy South African wickets and included him in the Test squad in early 2013. He debuted against South Africa in Johannesburg but went wicket-less. It was at the Centurion in the second Test that he really troubled the Proteas. The likes of Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers were his scalps and he ended the first innings with 6 wickets conceding 127 runs.

He toured with the Pakistani side to play Test matches in Zimbabwe and did reasonably well post that. However, he lost his place for the South African series in October 2013. The selectors then included him for the home Test series against Sri Lanka. Despite making his ODI debut before the Test debut, Rahat was out of the ODI side for good 3 years, coming back for the World Cup in 2015. He picked up 7 wickets in the tournament. His best performance came against South Africa in a group game, where he registered figures of 3/40 and Pakistan won the match by D/L method.

However, his drop of Shane Watson in the Quarters when Australia were on the back foot forced him to be a part of a dubious folklore. He has been out of favor since the tour to Australia in late 2016 but given the fact that he can move the ball at a brisk pace and can bowl the heavy ball at will, his chances will come in the near future.