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Pakistan selectors leave out Yousuf for New Zealand tour

Pakistani selectors have left senior batsman and former captain Muhammad Yousuf out of the squads for the tour to New Zealand next month.

Yousuf, one of Pakistan’s leading test batsman, had to return home with a groin injury from Dubai last month without playing in the tests against South Africa but has recovered to play domestic cricket.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the Twenty20 and test squads on Tuesday. Yousuf has not been picked in either squad while wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal and leg-spinner Danish Kaneria have again been overlooked.

‘The one-day squad will be announced later on as first the team plays three T20 matches and two tests, and the ODI series starts from January 22,’ a PCB spokesman said.

The selectors also ignored another former captain, Shoaib Malik, although he has been in prime form in domestic matches, scoring three successive hundreds including a double century.

They included senior batsman Younus Khan in the T20 squad although he had announced his retirement from this form of the game after leading Pakistan to the World Cup title last year.

Pakistan will play two tests, starting on Dec. 26 in Auckland, followed by three T20 games and six one-day internationals.

T20 squad:

Shahid Afridi (captain), Muhammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shahzad, Younus Khan, Umar Akmal, Fawad Alam, Adnan Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Tanvir Ahmed, Sohail Tanvir, Wahab Riaz (subject to fitness).

Test squad:

Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Muhammad Hafeez, Taufiq Umar, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Adnan Akmal, Tanvir Ahmed, Sohail Tanvir, Wahab Riaz (subject to fitness), Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman.