The Pakistan Cricket Board on Monday recalled Nasir Jamshed and Anwar Ali while seasoned batsman Younus Khan and pacer Umer Gul were dropped from the team announced for the three-match ODI series against Australia. The squad will be captained by Misba-ul-Haq and the series will be played in the UAE on August 28. Apart from former skipper Younus and Umer Gul, Mohammad Sami was also not considered due to his unpredictable performance.
The PCB’s selection meeting was held at the Qaddafi Stadium in Lahore, under the supervision of Iqbal Qasim. Kamran Akmal, who was recalled for the Twenty20s, also made it to the one-day leg of the tour and the other notable inclusion is Junaid Khan, the left-arm fast bowler who had an impressive Test series in Sri Lanka recently. Anwar Ali, the fast bowler who has played one Twenty20 international back in 2008, is the only relatively new face in the team.
Gul, Pakistan’s strike seam bowler, was selected for the Twenty20s but ignored for the ODIs. He had a disappointing tour of Sri Lanka, taking only four wickets in five games. Younus was out of sorts throughout the series, scoring just five runs in four games. The 34 year old Younus, had been a lean form during a five-match away one-day series against Sri Lanka last month, scoring only 10 runs in four innings. He has so far played 245 one-days for Pakistan, scoring 6,824 runs, but his last hundred came four years ago. Also out of the squad is ace paceman Umar Gul, who managed just four wickets in four matches against Sri Lanka. Chief selector Iqbal Qasim said both Younus and Gul, a 28-year-old veteran of 111 one-day matches, have been rested.
“If you look at the last series against Sri Lanka, both Younus and Gul were struggling with form so we have rested them for the two tough series ahead, the first against India in December and then against South Africa early next year,” Qasim said. Qasim denied Younis’s career was over. The national selectors also ignored the unpredictable seamer Sami, who played two one-dayers but was expensive in the fifth match in Colombo, leaking 75 runs in a thrilling encounter. Rahat Ali, the rookie left-arm seamer, was also left out after getting just one opportunity. The ODI series will be played from August 8 to September 10 in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.
Squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (C) Azaz Cheema, Sohail Taveer, Asad Shafiq, Imran Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Imran Farhat. Abdul Rehman, Junaid Khan, Muhammed Hafeez, Anwar Ali and Nasir Jamshed.
