Shahid Afridi axed from Pak ODI squad for India tour
Flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi has been axed from the Pakistan’s one-day international squad for this month’s tour of India. However he has retained his spot in the Twenty20 squad.
The other players segregated from the ODI squad that lost to Australia by 2-1 in United Arab Emirates (UAE) this summer, are left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman, and pace duo fast bowlers Sohail Tanvir and Aizaz Cheema.
Veteran batsman Younis Khan has made a comeback to the ODI squad, while pacers Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz have also retrieved the faith of selectors.
The two new faces in the ODI squad are Sialkot Stallions opener and Okara-based left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar, who impressed the selectors in Faysal Bank T20 Cup.
“Dropping Afridi was a difficult decision,” Pakistan’s chief selector Iqbal Qasim said at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore after eight-hour long selection committee meeting. He is no doubt a great player and has the ability to win a game, but the decision has been taken in the interest of the team.
“We did retain him in the T20 squad and if he performs well he can win back his ODI place in the future. Meanwhile, we are looking for a youngster as Afridi’s replacement and I am sure we will find the right man soon from the domestic circuit.”
Left-arm seamer Junaid Khan, who was surprisingly left-out of the World T20 in Sri Lanka in September, has made a comeback T20 squad, which does not feature, all-rounder Abdul Razzaq and opener Imran Nazir.
Explosive opener Ahmed Shehzad, who played a pivotal role in the Lahore Lions Faysal Bank T20 title victory by plundering four half-centuries and a hundred, has found also room in the T20 squad.
Pakistan will kick-off the tour with a Twenty20 international M Chinnaswamy of Bangalore on December 25. The second T20 game is scheduled on December 27 at Ahmedabad.
The three-match one-day series will get underway in Chennai on December 30 while the second and third games will be played at Kolkata (January 3) and Delhi (January 6) respectively.
Twenty20 squad:
Mohammad Hafeez (Captain), Ahmed Shehzad, Kamran Akmal, Nasir Jamshed, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik,Umar Amin, Zulfiqar Babar. Mohammad Irfan, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Sohail Tanvir, Asad Ali, Junaid Khan.
ODI squad:
Mohammad Hafeez (Captain), Nasir Jamshed, Azhar Ali, Misbah-ul-Haq, Haris Sohail, Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Imran Farhat, Zulfiqar Babar, Umar Akmal, Anwar Ali.
