Former captain Younus Khan and pacer Umer Gul have been named in the squad announced on Monday for Pakistan’s Test series against the West Indies. The two were dropped from the one-off T20 and the five one-dayers being played. The selection committee chairman Mohsin Khan then said that they were being rested and were not dropped.
But beleaguered wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq and Mohammad Yousuf were not considered for selection. Kamran and Razzaq were dropped from the team following their poor showing during the 2011 World Cup while Yousuf was not considered even for the World Cup. Shoaib Malik, Danish Kaneria and Imran Farhat are some of the other players who have been sidelined to make room for fresh blood in the team.
The PCB on Monday announced a 15-member team for the two Test matches against the West Indies. The selection committee chairman, after finalising the team, sent the list to the PCB chairman for the final announcement. The National Selection Committee met at Karachi and the team was announced after Ijaz Butt approved the team. Misbahul Haq has been retained as captain while Mohammad Salman would keep the wickets.
Taufiq Umer and Mohammad Hafeez will open the innings while Umer Akmal, Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali along with Misbah and Younus Khan would fill in the middle order. Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman are the spinners while the line-up has five pacers in Gul, Wahab Riaz, Tanvir Ahmed, Junaid Khan and Hammad Azam. Pakistan are scheduled to play two Test matches against West Indies for the series. The first Test will be played between May 12 and 16 at the Providence Stadium, Guyana and the second Test will be played from May 20 to 24 at Warner Park, Basseterre, St Kitts.
Test squad:
Misbah Ul Haq (Captain), Younis Khan, Taufiq Umer, Muhammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Mohammad Salman (WK), Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Umer Akmal, Umer Gul, Wahab Riaz, Tanvir Ahmed, Junaid Khan, Hammad Azam.
