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Pakistan bring
back Younis and Shoaib |
June 17, 2007
 Pakistan
have recalled seniors Younis Khan and
Shoaib Akhtar for the upcoming tour of
Scotland. Young opening batsman Salman
Butt will be the Vice-Captain to the
15-man squad that is being led by Shoaib
Malik. Salman Butt will be replacing
Mohammad Asif who was Malik's deputy for
the Abu Dhabi Series. Pakistan play an
ODI against Scotland at Edinburg on July
1st which is followed by an ODI against
arch rivals India at Glasgow on July
3rd.
The Selectors have dropped all rounder
Mohammad Hafeez, left arm quick Najaf
Shah and left arm spinner Abdur Rehman.
All these were part of the Pakistan
Squad that beat Sri Lanka 2-1 in the
Warid Cricket Series in Abu Dhabi last
month. Both Younis Khan and Shoaib
Akhtar had missed this series which was
the first one played by Pakistan after
their shocking World Cup campaign.
Younis Khan had opted out because of his
commitments with Nottinghamshire. Shoaib
Akhtar was still out with a knee injury
which has recovered now and is fit
according to the Selectors.
Shoaib Akhtar's last appearance for
Pakistan in One Day Cricket was the 2006
England tour. Shoaib along with Mohammad
Asif was forced out of the Champions
Trophy because of taking drugs. A career
threatening ban which was put by the
Pakistan Cricket Board was scrapped and
he did return for the South African tour
but a hamstring injury brought him down.
Shoaib Akthar missed the World Cup and
the other series that followed because
of an injury and finally he is back on
his feet for Pakistan. The World's
fastest bowler has played in just 133
ODIs and 43 Tests in a career that began
ten years back! Pakistan fans will
certainly feel that Shoaib has been an
under performer as he has been stuck
with 169 Test wickets and 208 ODI
wickets!
Pakistan Squad :
Imran Nazir,
Salman Butt
(Vice-Captain), Mohammad
Yousuf, Younis
Khan,
Kamran Akmal
(Wicket Keeper),
Shoaib Malik
(Captain), Yasir
Hameed,
Shahid Afridi,
Abdul Razzaq,
Mohammad Sami,
Umar Gul,
Iftikhar Anjum,
Mohammad Asif,
Fawad Alam,
Shoaib Akhtar
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