Shahid Afridi to captain Pakistan for Asia Cup, England tour by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Player:	Shahid Afridi
Event:	Asia Cup 2010

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DateLine: 25th May 2010

 

All-rounder Shahid Afridi has being handed over th reins of the Pakistani Test and the one-day side for the Asia Cup 2010 and the subsequent full tour of England. The PCB resisted the temptation of opting for different captains after speculations rose of appointing Salman Butt as the Test skipper.

 

The 30-year-old Afridi, who led Pakistan to the semifinals in the Twenty20 World Cup earlier this month, now becomes the 27th man to lead Pakistan in Test cricket.

 

"Afridi will lead Pakistan in one-day and Test cricket and is our best choice," Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ejaz Butt told reporters here.

 

Former captains Younus Khan and Shoaib Malik were also included in a 35-man list of probables, which will be culled down before the two events, pending a decision on the bans imposed on them by the PCB. Controversial fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar was also included among the probables.

 

Misbah-ul-Haq has been dropped once again, following disappointing results on his recall for the tours to New Zealand and Australia. Though he was picked for the World Twenty20 also, he didn't make any significant contribution towards Pakistan's semi-final run.

 

Probables : Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed, Khurram Manzoor, Shahzaib Hassan, Azhar Ali, Azeem Ghumman, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Faisal Iqbal, Fawad Alam, Hasan Raza, Asad Shafiq, Umar Amin, Aamer Sajjad, Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Afridi (capt), Abdul Razzaq, Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Sami, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Irfan, Tanvir Ahmed, Aizaz Cheema, Danish Kaneria, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Zulfiqar Babar, Kamran Akmal (wk), Zulqarnain Haider (wk)