Senior players Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt were shown the door while coach Intikhab Alam's fate remained unclear in a Shoaib Malik-led Pakistan team announced today for the two Twenty20 internationals against England in Dubai.
Senior players Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt were shown the door while coach Intikhab Alam's fate remained unclear in a Shoaib Malik-led Pakistan team announced today for the two Twenty20 internationals against England in Dubai.
As expected after the disastrous tour of Australia, in which Pakistan were whitewashed in all three formats of the game, changes were made in the 14-member strong team for the matches against England to be played on February 19 and 20.
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With regular Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi serving a two-match ban for ball tampering, Malik was named skipper.
Besides, Akmal and Butt, pacers Rao Iftikhar and Mohammad Asif, who has been barred from entering UAE after being caught carrying drugs on a previous visit, have also been dropped from the squad.
All-rounders Abdul Razzaq and Yasir Arafat have been recalled to the side. The selectors have also included two young pace bowlers, Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Talha in the side to partner Umar Gul as left-arm pacer Mohammad Aamer is injured.
Surprisingly, the PCB has not retained Alam as coach and announced that former Test batsman Ejaz Ahmed will be the batting and fielding coach of the side for the Dubai series.
However, the board has not clarified whether Intikhab has been dropped from Pakistan coach's post only for these two matches or permanently although his contract with the PCB runs until October this year.
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