PCB shot down Afridi’s Shoaib Malik option

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi and chief coach Waqar Younis had asked for the inclusion of out-of-favour Shoaib Malik...

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi and chief coach Waqar Younis had asked for the inclusion of out-of-favour Shoaib Malik in the ODI team for South Africa series but national selectors overruled their suggestion and named Younis Khan in the 17-member squad.

Afridi and Waqar had asked selectors to replace injured Mohamad Yousuf with the all-rounder Malik for the two Twenty20 and five-match ODI series against South Africa to be played in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

But the selectors rejected their demands and recalled Younis Khan for the one-dayers.

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“PCB and the national selectors didn’t agree with the suggestions coming from the captain and coach and opted to go for Younis Khan’s inclusion in the team,” Pakistani daily ‘The News’ quoted a source as saying.

Yousuf was ruled out of the limited-over series against the Proteas beginning October 26 after he ruptured a muscle in his right leg.

Younis,a Test specialist,will now have to prove his form and fitness in one-day format also to be considered for next month’s two-Test series against South Africa.

Sources said Afridi and Waqar were of the view that Malik could have been useful for Pakistan in the T20 and one-dayers because of his utility as an all-rounder.

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However,the PCB decided against recalling the former captain in the national fold and instead made him the captain for the Super Sixes series to be played in Hong Kong from November 6-7.