19 April 2008

Pakistani selectors have again overlooked senior batsman Mohammad Yousuf for Sunday's one-off Twenty20 international against Bangladesh.

Yousuf, who is enjoying a prolific scoring run in one-day internationals, was also dropped for last year's Twenty20 World Cup.

The 33-year-old right-hander has scored 1024 runs in his last 20 one-dayers and surpassed the test record for most runs in a calendar year in 2006, when he made 1788 in 11 tests.

"Yousuf is a great player and vital for us. But we felt the time is right to give some of the younger players a chance in the twenty20 squad," chief selector, Salahuddin Ahmed said.

Yousuf said he was disappointed at not making the Twenty20 squad but refused to criticise the selectors.

"My job is to play for my country and score as many runs as possible. The rest is up to the selectors," he said.

The selectors called up two uncapped players - Mansoor Amjad and Shoaib Khan - for the Bangladesh game.

Pakistan: Shoaib Malik (captain), Salman Butt, Younis Khan, Nasir Jamshed, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Fawad Alam, Sohail Tanvir, Muhammad Asif, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Wahab Riaz, Shoaib Khan, Mansoor Amjad.

© Reuters 2008

Bangladesh In Pakistan 2007/8