PCB announces team for India’s tour, drops Abdul Razzaq

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday announced the 22 players for the one-day international and Twenty20 teams for the upcoming winter tour of India.

According to the announcement made by chief selector Iqbal Qasim, Abdul Razzaq, Imran Nazir and Mohammad Sami have been dropped from the teams altogether while Shahid Afridi has only been retained for the shorter Twenty 20 format.

Asked about the decision to drop Razzaq, Qasim said that the names added to the sheet were decided through consensus including input from the captains of the two formats. He added that the focus with which the team had been selected was that this team looks to the future, and Razzaq, while a great player, was not a part of this.

When pressed that an inexperienced and unproven Asad Ali had been selected for the team instead of the experienced and proven talent of Razzaq, the chief selector said that Razzaq indeed senior, and for his talent, he deserved to be part of the playing eleven when selected, but there we did not have space for him.

Asked why Shahid Afridi had been dropped from the ODI team, Qasim said that Afridi was witnessing a dip in form, but he had been retained for the shorter format. Responding on why the all-rounder had been retained over Razzaq for the Twenty20s’, the chief selector said that Afridi is listed as a right-arm leg spin.

“Right now India’s chips are down and they rely more on batting, in comparison our bowling is effective, and if batting supports us, then we can counter them,” Qasim said, before adding that consistency in both batting and bowling was the key in giving Pakistan an edge over India.

The teams announced area as follows:

Twenty20: Mohamamd Hafeez (captain), Nasir Jamshed, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Umar Hameed, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Asad Ali, Zulfiqar Babar, Ahmed Shahzad.

ODI: Misbahul Haq (captain), Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Haris Sohail, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Zulfiqar Babar, Imran Farhat, Umar Akmal, Anwer Ali.

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Posted by Web Desk on Dec 10 2012. Filed under Pakistan, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.