Yousuf returns for Sri Lanka Tests
World Twenty20 champions Pakistan on Monday unveiled the 15-man squad
to tour Sri Lanka next week, including in the line-up pardoned rebel
Indian league players Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Razzaq.
Both Razzaq and Yousuf risked their international careers when they
played in the Indian Cricket League (ICL), which is not recognised by
the International Cricket Council or the Board of Control for Cricket in
India.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) banned all 23 players who joined the
ICL, but in February this year the Sindh high court suspended the bans
on all but two ICL players, paving their way to return to Pakistan’s
squad. Inzamam-ul-Haq and Saqlain Mushtaq, who are now retired, did not
appeal against the ban.
Mohammad Yousuf |
Born: August 27 1974
Batting style: Right-handed
Bowling style: Right-arm offbreak
Role: Middle-order batsman
Test debut: February 26 1998 v South Africa
ODI debut: March 28 1998 v Zimbabwe
Career statistics
Competition Test ODIs
Matches 79 269
Runs scored 6,770 9,242
Batting average 55.49 43.18
100s/50s 23/28 15/62
Top score 223 141* |
Razzaq was the first ICL player to return to international cricket
after he replaced injured all-rounder Yasir Arafat and appeared in the
World Twenty20, which ended Sunday with Pakistan lifting the Twenty20
Cricket World Cup.
They beat Sri Lanka at Lord’s in London, and will now play three
Tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 match on the Sri Lanka
tour.
Yousuf, 34, was declared the best Test batsman in 2007 after scoring
a world record 1,788 runs in the previous calendar year.
Yousuf and Razzaq joined the ICL after being left out of the team
which finished runners-up in the inaugural World Twenty20 held in South
Africa two years ago.
All-rounder Shahid Afridi, declared man-of-the-match in Pakistan’s
semi-final and final win in the World Twenty20, will skip the Test leg
of the Sri Lanka tour but will be available for the limited over
matches. Injury-prone paceman Shoaib Akhtar, who missed the World
Twenty20 due to groin problems, was also not considered for selection
for the Sri Lanka tour.
Also axed from the squad was paceman Sohail Tanvir, part of
Pakistan’s winning team on Sunday.
Rookie 17-year-old paceman Mohammad Aamir, easily the find for
Pakistan in their World Twenty20 win, will supplement the attack along
with the more experienced Umar Gul and Razzaq.
Also returning to the squad is paceman Abdur Rauf, who played four
one-day matches last year but was never selected for the Tests. Pakistan
starts the current tour on June 29 with a three-day side match in
Colombo. The first Test starts at Galle from July 4.
The other two Tests will be played in Colombo (12-16 July and 20-24
July) followed by one-day series and the Twenty20 match.
Squad: Younus Khan (captain), Misbah-ul-Haq (vice-captain), Salman
Butt, Khurrum Manzoor, Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Umar
Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Aamir, Danish Kaneria, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur
Rauf, Faisal Iqbal, Fawad Alam.
KARACHI, AFP |