Pakistan drop Shoaib Malik, recall Shahid Afridi

Karachi  : Pakistan Wednesday dropped Shoaib Malik and recalled veteran all-rounder Shahid Afridi along with Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shahzad for the forthcoming limited-overs series in the West Indies.

Wicketkeeper Rizwan Ahmed, Haris Sohail and Zulfiqar Babar are the green horns in the side.

Malik, a former skipper, was dropped after his poor show in the ICC Champions Trophy, where he scored only 25 runs in three matches.

Along with Malik, wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal and opener Imran Farhat also faced the axe. Pace spearhead Umar Gul continues to remain outside the team since he is recuperating from a knee operation in May.

By recalling Afridi, selectors have given the senior player another international lifeline despite ignoring him twice in the last six months.

Misbah-ul-Haq has been retained as captain of the one-day international side, while Mohammad Hafeez will lead the team in the two Twenty20s.

“We have selected separate squads after consultation with Misbah and coach Dav Whatmore and we hope that it will do well.

“We have selected Afridi as per the requirement for the West Indies tour where we need a leg-spinner and he is one of the physically fittest players,” chief selector Iqbal Qasim said.

One-day squad: Misbah-ul Haq (Capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Ahmed Shahzad, Asad Shafiq, Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal, Umar Amin, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Irfan, Asad Ali, Junaid Khan, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman

Twenty20 squad: Mohammad Hafeez (Capt), Ahmed Shahzad, Nasir Jamshed, Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal, Haris Sohail, Hammad Azam, Sohail Tanveer, Wahab Riaz, Asad Ali, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Umar Amin, Saeed Ajmal and Zulfiqar Babar.