Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal exclusion from Pakistan squad recommended by Misbah-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis
Umar Akmal and Mohammed Shehzad, who have been excluded from the Pakistan squad for the upcoming tour of Bangladesh, were axed on the recommendations of coach Waqar Younis and recently retired captain Misbah-ul-Haq, reports have surfaced.
According to Geo news channel, Pakistan’s World Cup coach and captain had noted in their post-tournament reports that despite being told many times to play responsibly and change their attitude for the team, Shehzad and Akmal continued to show reckless attitude in their approach to the game and let down the team time and again.
The reports had included the suggestion that the duo be dropped for a period of at least an year, to teach them a lesson in discipline and professionalism.
"The PCB had decided to go with the suggestions of Misbah and Waqar and drop the two for all three formats but the national T20 captain, Shahid Afridi insisted on having Shehzad in his team”, said the report on Geo news.
Afridi, who is known to have played a mentor’s role for Shehzad, wanted the opener in his side as Pakistan do not have too much experience at the top of the order for the World T20 Cup in India early next year. Shehzad incidentally scored 176 in his last Test innings – against New Zealand last November – but neither Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq or ODI captain Azhar Ali made a demand similar to Afridi’s.
Will take strict measures to achieve professionalism: PCB
"We are not against any individual but cricketing discipline is more important to us," new chief selector of PCB Haroon Rasheed said.
"We saw the detailed tour report (of the World Cup), and there's a clear message from us: Pakistan should come first. We expect thorough professionalism from all the players and for this, if we have to take some strict measures, we will not hesitate."
Middle order batsmen Fawad Alam and Asad Shafiq have made comebacks to the team, apart from Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez.
The selectors have also included rookie opening batsman Sami Aslam in the Test and ODI squads while another rookie middle-order batsman, Mohammad Rizwan, was in the ODI and T20 squads.
Pakistan Test squad: Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Sami Aslam, Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Haris Sohail, Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar, Sarfraz Ahmed, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Sohail Khan, Rahat Ali
Pakistan ODI squad: Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Azhar Ali (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Haris Sohail, Sohaib Maqsood, Sami Aslam, Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Shah, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali, Ehsan Adil, Sohail Khan
Pakistan T20 squad: Ahmed Shehzad, Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Hafeez, Mukhtar Ahmed, Sohaib Maqsood, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Rizwan, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi (capt), Sohail Tanvir, Saad Nasim, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Khan, Umar Gul, Junaid Khan