Misbah named Test captain, Shahid remains ODI, T20 skipper
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Test cricketer Misbah-ul-Haq has been named the new Test Captain of Pakistan, while Shahid Afridi would lead One-day and T20 teams, Geo News reported Friday.
Earlier on Thursday PCB in a surprise move had announced the captain-less squad against South Africa, which had given rise to the suspicion that Afridi being replaced by Misbah.
National selectors came out with quite a few surprises on Thursday, recalling senior batsman Misbah-ul-Haq and once again overlooking former captain Shoaib Malik for the limited-overs series against South Africa in the United Arab Emirates.
Kamran Akmal was replaced with Zulqarnain Haider, while former captain Younis Khan was ignored once again.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) added another twist to the story when it decided against naming the captain even though it had earlier earmarked experienced all-rounder Shahid Afridi to continue as skipper till World Cup 2011.
Afidi, who has been leading Pakistan in ODIs and Twenty20s since this year’s ICC World Twenty20 championship in the Caribbean, has been included in the 15-man touring party.
Misbah’s stunning return and a delay in naming the captain has raised quite a few eyebrows. According to media report, during a marathon meeting with national selectors in Lahore on Thursday, PCB chairman Ijaz Butt declared that the team’s captain will be named later.
It is reported that one of the prime reasons why Misbah has been recalled is because he could lead Pakistan if Butt agrees to sack Afridi as captain. However, a top official has insisted that Misbah’s recall is based purely on cricketing merit. Mohsin Hasan Khan, Pakistan’s chief selector, defended the decision to recall Misbah, who last played a One-day International in September 2009.
“We needed a senior batsman in the team,” Mohsin told. “Due to the unavailability of Salman Butt, there weren’t many experienced batters in the side,” he added. Salman Butt together with fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) last month after being accused of accepting bribes from match-fixers during the Lord’s Test against England.
But why was Misbah, who is already 36 and was discarded as a spent force almost a year ago, preferred over younger and fitter batters like Faisal Iqbal, Aamer Sajjad, Khurram Manzoor and Taufeeq Umar — all prolific run-getters on the domestic circuit last season.”
“Misbah was really successful in the Pentangular Cup,” said Mohsin. But Misbah played just two matches in the Pentangular Cup, scoring 176 runs. The Mianwali-based batsman, however, top scored in the National One-day Cup with 490 runs at 163.33.
There was no room for the experienced Younis Khan in the team. Mohsin said that the PCB is yet to clear Younis for national duty. “We didn’t get any clearance as far as Younis is concerned.” Mohsin, a former Pakistan Test opener, said that Shoaib Malik will have to prove his form before earning a recall.
“He needs to come back in form. There was a lot of discussion about him but in the end we decided to give him more time to win back a place in the team.”
Mohsin said that Kamran Akmal, who recently underwent an appendicitis operation in Lahore, can regain his place in the team once he attains full fitness. “We have dropped him because of health reasons,” he said adding that the selectors want to groom wicketkeepers like Zulqarnain Haider and Sarfraz Ahmed.
“We are trying to make an all-round combination of youth and experience which is why Zulqarnain and Sarfraz will be given ample chances.” Zulqarnain has replaced Akmal as the team’s stumper for the limited-overs series against South Africa, while Sarfraz has been included in the Pakistan ‘A’ squad for the tour of West Indies getting underway from November 3.
Meanwhile, Imran Farhat has been recalled to the ODI squad at the expense of big-hitting opener Shahzaib Hasan. Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul will lead the pace attack in the absence of Asif and Amir. Veteran all-rounder Abdul Razzaq and rookie fast bowler Tanveer Ahmed complete the pace quartet.
But it will be there spin quartet that is likely to trouble South Africa on pitches in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which are expected to assist spinners. Pakistan have included two specialist spinner — Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman — in the squad. With Afridi and Muhammad Hafeez, also in the squad, they will have ample spin options during the series, which will kick off with a Twenty20 International in Abu Dhabi on October 26. “We have some really good spinners and I’m sure they will do well in UAE,” said Mohsin.
Pakistan squad: Imran Farhat, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Tanveer Ahmed, Zulqarnain Haider
posted @ 11:56 AM,
0 Comments:
Post a Comment