Younis Khan And Umar Gul "Rested" For Australia ODIs

Younis Khan And Umar Gul "Rested" For Australia ODIs

Umar Gul (centre) struggled for wickets on the tour of Sri Lanka.

©REUTERS/Andrew Biraj. Picture Supplied by Action Images

Pakistan have axed the experienced pair of Umar Gul and Younis Khan from their squad for the three-match One-Day International series against Australia in the UAE, which begins on 28th August. 

Both men put in disappointing performances on the recent tour of Sri Lanka – Gul taking four wickets from five matches and Younis scoring just five runs from four games – but chief selector Iqbal Qasim insisted that the reason behind their omission was simply to give them a rest.

"For a while Gul and Younis have been struggling and they have been dropped only to give them a break," he said. "Both have contributed a lot for Pakistan and we need them to be fresh ahead of the busy schedule. They desperately need a break to manage their workloads."

Other changes from the squad that toured Sri Lanka include the omissions of pace-bowlers Mohammad Sami and Rahat Ali and the inclusion of Anwar Ali.

Qasim said of these changes, “The selectors have decided to drop Rahat Ali, who needs more grooming and he is a future prospect, while Anwar Ali has been in the pipeline for quite a long time. He has been included to get some confidence and much-needed exposure."

Pakistan ODI squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Kamran Akmla (wicket-keeper), Umar Akmal, Anwar Ali, Azhar Ali, Aizaz Cheema, Imran Farhat, Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Junaid Khan, Shoaib Malik, Abdur Rehman, Asad Shafiq, Sohail Tanvir. 

© Cricket World 2012