Younus ignored for England T20, ODI series
Younus ignored for England T20, ODI series
LAHORE: Selectors Tuesday ignored former Pakistani captain Younus Khan for the limited over matches series against England despite lifting a ban this year on him playing for his country.
Mohsin Khan, chairman of the Cricket Board's selection committee, said Younus's name had not been cleared by the PCB despite an indefinite ban on him being overturned by an appellate tribunal in June.
"At the moment Younus's name was not cleared by the PCB chairman (Ijaz Butt), so he was not considered for selection," Khan told reporters while announcing the squad.
Younus, 32, has not been part of the Pakistan team since February after being sent to Australia for the one-day series.
He had withdrawn from the team for the preceding tour of New Zealand and Tests against Australia, citing personal reasons.
Soon after the Australia tour Younus and six other players were either banned or fined for indiscipline and infighting.
A one-man appellate tribunal lifted the ban on Younus but the PCB said he still had to resolve some legal matters before he could be cleared to play for Pakistan.
Pakistan are currently playing a four-match Test series against England, with the final Test starting at Lord's from Thursday.
After the Tests, they play back-to-back Twenty20 matches at Cardiff, on September 5 and 7 before their five-match one-day series starts at Chester-le-Street three days later.
Among the Test squad, Shoaib Malik, Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed, Umar Amin and Tanveer Ahmed will return to Pakistan and their places will be taken by Shahzaib Hasan, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Akhtar and Fawad Alam.
Injury-prone paceman Akhtar, 35, was part of Pakistan team which featured in the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka last month but was not selected for Tests due to
lack of fitness.
Another paceman Umar Gul, ruled out of the final two Tests against England
due to injury, was passed fit to play in the limited over series.
All-rounder Shahid Afridi retained captaincy after he resigned from Test cricket following Pakistan's defeat against Australia in the Lord's Test last month.
Afridi said the series against England will give him a chance to reassess the players before the 2011 World Cup.
"The next World Cup is just six months away, so we have to keep a pool of 20-22 players and series against England will give us a good chance to prepare for the World Cup," said Afridi.
Squad: Shahid Afridi (capt), Salman Butt, Shahzaib Hasan, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Yousuf, Azhar Ali, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Fawad Alam, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamir, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar and Wahab Riaz.
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