All-rounder Shahid Afridi will captain Pakistan on their tour of England this year after announcing at the weekend he was available again for Test cricket after a four-year absence.
Afridi, 30, will lead Pakistan in the four-nation Asia Cup from June 12 and then in the six tests and five one-dayers that Pakistan are scheduled to play against Australia and England.
Former captains Younus Khan and Shoaib Malik, who were recently banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board for indiscipline, have been selected in a 35-man preliminary squad.
PHOTO: AFP
Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who has not represented Pakistan for a year because of fitness and disciplinary problems, is also included in the preliminary squad.
Younus and Malik are appealing against their bans, while Afridi is appealing against a fine imposed for ball-tampering in Australia this year. Afridi captained Pakistan in the subsequent Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies where last year’s champions lost to Australia in the semi-finals.
“It is a great honor for me, but also a big challenge, but test cricket is not like T20 or one-day cricket it is tough and very very challenging,” Afridi told a news conference on Tuesday.
“I don’t want to make tall claims because we are going through a rebuilding phase in our Test team so it is going to be a tough tour for us,” he said.
Chief selector Mohsin Khan said Younus and Malik’s inclusion was dependent on their appeals succeeding.
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