The chairman of selectors Wasim Bari said Saqlain has informed the cricket board that he was not available because he was nursing his bed-ridden father in London's Cromwell Hospital.
``He is not available for the first Test. We are also not sure if he would be here in time for the back-to-back second and third Tests. His father is seriously ill,'' Bari told Dawn at the National Stadium.
Saqlain was an automatic choice in a squad of 16 which will be announced by the selectors on Sunday evening. Saqlain, in 15 Tests has captured 58 wickets, including a match-haul of nine for 79 in Pakistan's last Test at home soil last year.
In place of Saqlain, the selectors have decided to recall Peshawar's Arshad Khan whose last appearance for Pakistan was in the first Test against the West Indies at Peshawar. Arshad, who had played with Saqlain on the bench, went wicketless in Pakistan's victory by an innings.
In another surprising move, the selectors have not included Aqib Javed in a provisional squad of 16 which has to be approved by the selection committee. The provisional list has been prepared with the consent of captain Aamir Sohail and coach Javed Miandad.
Aqib Javed was the vice-captain on the Canadian trip.
But Waqar Younis, who is playing his comeback match, has been included in the 16-man squad.
Bari said he wanted the bunch of 16 players to remain together throughout the tour. ``It will entirely be upto the team management to pick the final line-up but we want that the players should train, stay and travel together.''
Waqar Younis, when contacted, said: ``Everything has been sorted out. I had a lengthy discussion with the selectors.''
He, however, refused to confirm if he has asked them to pick him in the team.
Nevertheless, informed sources said Waqar Younis will have the option to leave the national team and play two Quaid-i-Azam Trophy matches for his Lahore City Cricket Association.
Pakistan's premier competition begins from Oct 1 and the second round matches start from Oct 7.
Wasim Akram, who has 341 wickets in 79 Tests, figures on top of the bowlers list followed by Waqar Younis, Mohammad Zahid, Azhar Mahmood and Shoaib Akhtar. The latter missed the Sahara Cup when he was included in the Commonwealth Games team which failed to qualify for the semi-finals.
Middle-order batsman Mohammad Wasim is also in the 16-man squad. Wasim, who scored 192 in Pakistan's last Test outing against Zimbabwe at Harare, was initially not announced for the training camp which was scheduled to start at Lahore from Saturday.
``We never submitted any names to the cricket board, therefore, we don't need to explain why Mohammad Wasim's name was not in the probables list.
``It's better that you should ask the cricket board about who prepared and approved the probables list,'' Bari added.
The provisional 16-man squad for the first Test is:
Aamir Sohail (captain), Saeed Anwar, Shahid Afridi, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Salim Malik, Ijaz Ahmad, Mohammad Wasim, Yousuf Yohanna, Moin Khan, Azhar Mahmood, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Zahid, Mushtaq Ahmad and Arshad Khan.