The Pakistan Cricket Board has retained Misbahul Haq as the captain of the national team for the next month’s Zimbabwe tour while opener Imran Farhat has staged a come back in the team which also have a couple of new faces. The PCB selection committee after two days of deliberations announced the team and showed faith in Misbah for the Test, one-day and twenty20 series against Zimbabwe.
In the squads of 16 players, the PCB also picked three uncapped players – middle-order batsman Ramiz Raja, legspinner Yasir Shah and fast bowler Aizaz Cheema. Chief selector Mohsin Khan says senior players Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz and Abdur Rehman have been rested for the tour of Zimbabwe in September during which Pakistan play one Test match, three ODIs and two Twenty20 games. The selection committee has also named Shoaib Malik among six standbys but his selection has been conditioned with clearance from the PCB integrity committee. Earlier on Wednesday, the selection committee held a prolonged session but failed to reach a consensus.
Chief selector Mohsin Khan has said that there was a debate on including some new faces in the touring squad and resting some of the senior players including Younis Khan, Umar Gul and Taufeeq Umar etc. “The coming tours are very important for us and we will select the touring squad for Zimbabwe keeping those tours also in mind,” Mohsin said. The selectors have been impressed with some of the young talent that was invited to the fast-track camp organised by the PCB in Lahore where Mohsin was also present as batting coach. “But the tour is also an ideal opportunity for us to recall some players and try out some new faces,” one selector said.The selectors have also been told to deliberate upon a short-list of players who can be considered for the central contracts that will run from July 1 to end of the year. “The announcement of the central contracts has already been delayed and we are hoping to finalize them before the team leaves for Zimbabwe around August 22,” one official said.
Squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Taufiq Umar, Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Rameez Raja Junior, Adnan Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Shah, Sohail Tanveer, Sohail Khan, Junaid Khan, Aizaz Cheema.
Standbys: Sarfraz Ahmad (WK), Khurram Manzoor, Sharjeel Khan, Muhammad Talha, Hammad Azam, Shoaib Malik.
