KARACHI, (Reuters) – Pakistan have dropped top order batsman Mohammad Hafeez from their test squad and recalled former captain Younus Khan in the one-day team for next month’s tour of Sri Lanka.
Hafeez’s struggle in tests prompted his axing from the squad for the series against South Africa last year in the United Arab Emirates before the 36-test player was recalled for the series against Sri Lanka, also in the UAE.
The 33-year-old has managed just one half-century in his last 14 test innings and he quit the Twenty20 captaincy in April after the team’s exit from the group stage of the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh.
Middle order batsman Umar Akmal was recalled to the 15-member test squad named on Wednesday, the 24-year-old returning after three years out of the side, having played the last of his 16 tests against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo in 2011.
However, pace duo Umar Gul and Mohammad Irfan missed out on the tour due to ongoing fitness concerns, chief selector Moin Khan said.
“They are not 100 percent fit and have been given more time to hit peak fitness,” Khan told reporters.
Gul had a knee surgery in May and the 30-year-old right-arm bowler hurt it again while playing in the MCC v Rest of the World celebration match at the Lord’s last week.
Left-arm bowler Irfan, 32, has not fully recovered from a hairline fracture in his hip.
