Pakistan drop Razzaq, Kamran from ODIs, T20 side

by mymazaa.com

Pakistan dropped Abdul Razzaq and Kamran Akmal and rested Umar Gul and Younis Khan from the ODI and Twenty20 squads for the forthcoming series in the West Indies.

Shahid Afridi will be leading the squad, which will see a new wicketkeeper in 29-year-old Mohammad Salman. The Test squad will be announced later.

Kamran was dropped after poor wicketkeeping during the World Cup. During a group game against New Zealand, Kamran dropped centurion Ross Taylor thrice, including twice within the first four runs he scored.

Coach Waqar Younis had hinted at a new pair of gloves after the World Cup and the Karachi-born Salman, with 103 first-class games, emerged as a strong contender after being overlooked earlier in favour of Sarfraz Ahmed, Zulqarnain Haider and Adnan Akmal.

Razzaq also had an unimpressive World Cup and during the tournament, never completed his full quota of 10 overs. He also failed to contribute with the bat.

Left-hand opening batsman Taufeeq Umar was surprise inclusion while 31-year-old Punjab pacer Aizaz Cheema also received an unexpected call-up as a replacement for Gul.

Squad: Shahid Afridi (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Taufeeq Umar, Usman Salahuddin, Misbah-ul-Haq, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Tanvir Ahmed, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Hammad Azam, Aizaz Cheema and Mohammad Salman (wicketkeeper)

Reserves: Rameez Raja (jnr), Sadaf Hussain, Asif Zakir, Sohail Khan, Zulifqar Babar