LAHORE — Pakistan Monday dropped big-hitting all-rounder Shahid Afridi from its squad for the three-match One-Day International series against arch-rival India starting this month.
The 32-year-old captained Pakistan in its 2011 World Cup campaign, which ended in a semifinal defeat to India, but has been in poor form of late, managing just 76 runs and five wickets in his last 10 one-dayers.
He will miss the 50-over series but selectors kept faith with him for the shortest form of the game, naming him in the 15-man Twenty20 squad led by Mohammad Hafeez.
Shoaib Malik likewise misses out on the one-day squad, but makes the T20 list, while experienced all-rounder Abdul Razzaq was axed altogether as chief selector Iqbal Qasim said it was time to blood some younger players in one of sport’s fiercest rivalries.
“We have selected a balanced team with the consensus of the selection committee, both the captains and the coach with a hope that these teams will give good results on the India tour,” Qasim told reporters.
“We have selected Afridi in the Twenty20 squad only and have given Zulfiqar Babar a chance in both the teams as he has been performing well in domestic cricket,” said Qasim of the uncapped 34-year-old left-arm spinner.
Imran Nazir was dropped, while batsman Asad Shafiq and left-arm spinner Raza Hasan were ruled out through injury.
Pakistan flies to New Delhi on Dec. 22 and plays the first Twenty20 match in Bangalore three days later. The second Twenty20 match will be played in Ahmedabad on Dec. 27 followed by one-day matches in Chennai (Dec. 30), Kolkata (Jan. 3) and Delhi (Jan. 6).
T20 Squad: Mohammad Hafeez (C), Nasir Jamshed, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Umar Amin, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, M. Irfan, Junaid Khan, Sohail Tanveer, Umar Gul, Asad Ali, Zulfiqar Babar, Ahmed Shahzad.
ODI squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (C), Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Nasir Jamshed, Haris Sohail, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Zulfiqar Babar, Imran Farhat, Umar Akmal, Anwar Ali. — AFP
