Misbah axed,Pakistan recall Butt and Farhat

Chief selector Iqbal Qasim justified Misbah’s axing,saying the player needed rest to refresh himself and comeback stronger in the national squad.

Misbah,35,got the axe for the first time since his 2001 comeback to the national team. “You say we have dropped him but we have rested him and couple of other players under a rotation policy we want to pursue vigorously keeping in mind the talent we have and the 2011 World Cup,” said Qasim.

Misbah’s axing comes at a time when despite all criticism against him and his form,he has still averaged around 39 in one-day internationals in the last two years.

Sources aware of the team matters said captain Younus Khan and Iqbal Qasim were against having Misbah in the side when the selectors met in Lahore to pick the squads.

“The biggest complaint against Misbah is that he has not behaved like a team man in recent months and was challenging the authority of the captain,” one source claimed.

The selectors,meanwhile,reposed confidence in opener Imran Farhat once again although he has not played for Pakistan since joining the Indian Cricket League in 2007.

Qasim said Farhat was considered for selection since he had resigned from the ICL and the board had given clearance to consider him for selection.

“He has been doing well in domestic cricket. We have also recalled Salman Butt. We want to bank on a proper specialist opening pair again and we will go to New Zealand for the Test series with three specialist openers,” Qasim said.

The selectors picked pace man Mohammad Asif only for the Test tour of New Zealand and recalled experienced all-rounder Abdul Razzaq for the one-day and Twenty20 matches.

Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ejaz Butt said he was still trying to obtain clearance from Dubai authorities so that Asif could play in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

“We have not given up hopes if he gets clearance he would be added to the one-day and Twenty20 squads as well,” Butt said.

Asif cannot enter the United Arab Emirates as he had been detained there last year for possessing small quantity of opium.

Pakistan ODI squad: Younus Khan (C),Shahid Afridi,Salman Butt,Imran Farhat,Khalid Latif,Mohammad Yousuf,Shoaib Malik,Umar Akmal,Kamran Akmal,Abdul Razzaq,Rana Naved,Saeed Ajmal,Umar Gul,Muhammad Aamer,Rao Iftikhar,Wahab Riaz.

Pakistan Twenty20 squad: Shahid Afridi (C),Khalid Latif,Imran Nazir,Umar Akmal,Shoaib Malik,Kamran Akmal,Abdul Razzaq,Rana Naved,Umar Gul,Muhammad Aamer,Rao Iftikhar,Saeed Ajmal,Imran Farhat,Fawad Alam,Sohail Tanvir.

Pakistan Test squad: Younus Khan (C),Salman Butt,Khurrum Manzoor,Imran Farhat,Muhammad Yousuf,Shoaib Malik,Fawad Alam,Faisal Iqbal,Kamran Akmal,Danish Kaneria,Saeed Ajmal,Yasir Arafat,Umar Gul,Muhammad Asif,Muhammad Aamer,Abdul Rauf,Umar Akmal,Sarfraz Ahmed.