Hafeez appointed T20 captain, Misbah retained for Test and ODI squads
The decision was widely expected after Misbah led Pakistan to a 2-1 loss in the three-match Twenty20 series against England in February.
Misbah, who turns 38 later this month, is regarded as too old for the fastest brand of the game, but will still lead Pakistan for one-dayers and Tests on next month's Sri Lanka tour.
Pakistan play two Twenty20s, five one-days and three Tests on the tour. They open with a Twenty20 match in Hambantota on June 1.
Misbah said he was not retiring from Twenty20 cricket.
"I accept this decision and will continue to serve my country in the best possible manner," he said. "I have not decided to retire from the Twenty20 and will play at domestic level to stage a comeback."
The 31-year-old Hafeez, who will skipper Pakistan for the first time, will also be Misbah's deputy in one-days and Tests.
A delighted Hafeez, who has played 29 Twenty20s for Pakistan, said: "I owe a big thanks to the PCB and Misbah for thinking that I am capable enough to lead Pakistan.
"I will do my best to lift the team."
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Zaka Ashraf said: "Misbah has been a great leader and he will remain captain for the one-days and Tests, but after consulting Misbah, we have decided to appoint Hafeez as new captain for the Twenty20."
Paceman Mohammad Sami, 31, was included in all three squads after a two-year break and middle-order batsman Faisal Iqbal was back in the Test squad after being sidelined in 2009.
Uncapped left-arm paceman Rahat Ali, who has 107 wickets in 27 first-class matches, is in the one-day team, while batsmen Ayub Dogar and Afaq Raheem made the Test squad for the first time.
Shahid Afridi, a former captain who is in the Twenty20 and one-day squad, welcomed Hafeez's appointment.
"Hafeez is captain of the whole nation and I urge the fans to back him. We must give him confidence before the all-important tour, then matches against Australia and then the World Twenty20," the 32-year-old told AFP.
Afridi, who had been a popular choice of fans to lead the Twenty20 side, denied being disappointed at being passed over and said he was ready to play for Pakistan in any position.
Squad (Twenty20): Mohammad Hafeez (captain), Khalid Latif, Ahmed Shahzad, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Shakeel Ansar, Shahid Afridi, Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul, Sohail Tanveer, Saeed Ajmal, Raza Hasan, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Sami, Hammad Azam, Nasir Jamshed
One-day: Misbahul Haq (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Rahat Ali, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Mohammad Sami, Asad Shafiq, Aizaz Cheema, Azhar Ali, Imran Farhat
Test: Misbahul Haq (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Ayub Dogar, Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Mohammad Sami, Faisal Iqbal, Junaid Khan, Afaq Raheem, Mohammad Ayub, Aizaz Cheema
Tour itinerary:
June 1: First Twenty20 international, Hambantota
June 3: Second Twenty20 international, Hambantota
June 7: First one-dayer, Pallekele
June 9: Second one-dayer, Pallekele
June 13: Third one-dayer, Colombo
June 16: Fourth one-dayer, Colombo
June 18: Fifth one-dayer, Colombo
June 22-26: First Test, Galle
June 30-July 4: Second Test, Colombo
July 8-12: Third Test, Pallekele
COMMENTS (54)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
1730379446-0/WhatsApp-Image-2024-10-31-at-17-56-13-(1)1730379446-0-270x192.webp "pia plans fleet expansion to revamp flight operations")
Regardless of how much Punjabi PCB mafia ignores Shahid Afridi,he lives in hearts of millions across the globe.
Muhammad Sami, Faisal Iqbal and Imran Farhat have been tested a thousand times. They are not consistent. T-20 squad should have had Rana Naveed Ul Hassan. Yes he is old. But he is a specialist. BPL,Faysal Bank, Big Bash u name it. Arafat was part of 2007 WC squad. I hope he has improved. Hammad shouldnt have been dropped from the ODIs. Bad decision. Overall Good selection. Good to see youngsters getting a chance. Hafeez will make a good captain. I'm sure.
Misbah only deserves to be in test squad. Soon his ODI carrier will come to an end.
@Asim: disagree to you. if the shuffles have been made like that, it affects pakistani team for longer period. PCB should make the long term policy and select one captain for particular format, and give him time to settle down and the get the team together. announcement of the hafiz as a captain is quite interesting despite of the sitting afridi in squad. how could they have ignored the afridi. as far as misbah is concerned, misbah ul haq is nothing but curse for team.
Our chief selector is from karachi so its natural faisal iqbal and sami had to be selected...politics is continuing to destroy cricket
Imran Farhat, Faisal Iqbal & Muhammad Sami.. not again plz..!
Again Imran Farhat and Malik? WHY? and what use is it to bring back Mohmmad Sami and Faisal Iqbal, why not try out some new talent like Usman Salahuddin and Sadaf Hussain.
@Khan: Pray hahaha whenever he plays Pakistan loses.
Sami, Faisal and Farhat are ridiculous selection.. We certainly have better Players in domestic circuit..
@Haseeb: In my opinion Hammad should be given captaincy in T20s.. for the time being I think Hafeez is a better choice but after worldT20 Hammad should be given captaincy.
Why Muhammad Yousuf isn't in the Test Team??
What about Zia-ul-haq?? he is a good bowler and inform.. may be PPP puppet PCB don't want any other Zia-ul-haq in their term.
First time I feel sad for Afridi. He should have been appointed T20 captain. Its true that he is unreliable like Pakistan railways engine, but he is the only engine in this form of cricket. All other players are just Dabbas except Imran Farhat who is a cago compartment in passenger train.
Who news faces is been selected for ODI and One day teams.. Is Shoiab Malik or Imran farhat or Yasir Arafat??? I could not understand that how is it possible that these old players were fortunate to become a part of team then imran nazir and hammad azam and other talented players could not???
I think its ridiculous decision to opting players for different formats teams.. and hafeez is not enough mature than afridi.. its childish to give more preference over boom boom afridi.. Because afridi dil se saaf hai.. wo kisi syasat ka hissa ni banna chahta.. so thats why..
very bad, Afridi was the best option for T20 and 1dys
haha... i realised one thing from Pakistan you do good for the country and you will be disrespected (in most cases) Afridi led the team made into a unit to semi finals and then people coming up saying he is not mature enough...May Allah give some brain to us as a Nation
Abdur Razzaq plays T20 around the world but has not been selected - very poor!
Poor team selection in must say....
@Ali: Imran Nazir is a MUST in T20s. Poor decision by PCB to not select him for the world cup.
Best of luck professor... keep it up
Imran Farhat in and Hammad Azam out? Are you kidding?????? Why don't you groom an all rounder within batallion of fast bowlers? @Ali: Please stop whining about Imran Nazir. This isn't BPL or Faysal Bank.
Why Sarfraz not included in Test side?
Imran Farhat again? for what?? why? now wait for one 30+ score in 10 innings (with a couple chances) and 9.. caught by slip/keeper for less then 30.
Imran farhat but no imran nazir?? amazing!
Its a good decisions to appoint Hafeez as T20 Captain but selection committee must have to continue this T20 squad upto T20 World Cup 2012
Not a big fan of Sami's but one should remember his last test when he blew away australia and almost took Pakistan to victory....were it not for Kamran Akmal.
The team selection shows that politics still exists in PCB.
I would still go with Afridi for the T20 and One dayers. Misbah should be vice for both and Captain for Tests. Afridi has played for quite a long time now. He has some experience which Hafeez lacks.
Imran Farhat and Faisal Iqbal, both debut 11 years ago and since then never able to justify their selection in team. can somebody ask Faisal Iqbal if he's that good player, then why his average his meagre 26 in test matches, he always score 50 (that too when team is losing) in last innings of test match series then blame selectors for dropping him from the team.
You must have a quality to be selected in team, and quality of our greatest ever opener Imran Farhat is PCB's Subhan.
Is that Ijaz Cheema or Aizaz Cheema? Confused because its not surprising here that multiple brothers pop up in the team :P
Misbah when will you quit,,,, bas kardo bas!!!
TUK TUK is out of T-20, what a good news. Please keep him safe only for Tests
congratulations, Keep it up hafeez and misbah, we know u can do it.
Good deciseion to make different teams for all formats but exclusion of Ahmad shahzad & inclusion of Imran farhat in one day team is a big quesstion mark on the selection committee integrity.Also how a 32 years old new captin will be a future prospect??????????????
Would love to see Muhammad Sami back in action!
if the likes of Imran Farhat & Yasir Arafat can be selected then why not Imran Nazir ???
No Hammad Azam in ODI squad and we have Imran Farhat there? Is this some kind of joke?
Why is Imran Farthead and Shoaib Malik back. They are failures...and get parchi done each time!
Good Decision of Muhammad Hafeez as Captain of T-20. Balanced teams; all goodluck for Srikanka series. Again another chance for Imran farhat. Good comeback by Muhammad Sami.
Some one should give some justification of selecting Mohammas Sami, Imran Farhat, Yasir Arafat and especially Faisal Iqbal.
An excellent choice, Muhammad Abdul Hafeez is the best choice after Misbah given the fact that Afridi isn't mature to lead the side any more.
Interesting team selection!
hafees as captain what a joke....imran farhat, shoaib malik, adnan akmal poor selection no place for them
Hafeez(captain)....why not in one days??
justified :)
He has a fiery temprement. Wont help him earn respect from other players. Cant see him lasting long.
Pitty The Nation: where Muhammad Sami, Imran Farhat is in the team and no Imran Nazir in T20.
Faisal Iqbal in tests, Imran Farhat in ODIs, and Shoaib Malik in T20s. Above all, Mohammad Sami in all three formats. Well done PCB.
Imran Farhat againnnnnnnnn. O God....
Mohammad Sami in all three formats and no Abdul Razzaq? Is it a joke, PCB?
Excellent Decision by the PCB. Three different teams for three different format. Excellent. So many new faces. This is the only way to go about it. Just one thing which is upsetting me. How did Imran Farhat again made it to the ODI squad.
The culture in Pakistan doesn't allow anyone to stay at the helm of anything, be it the country or the cricket. What we hope in Pakistan is the performance, hoping this culture accommodate the "good performance" sometime ..
Good Decision by board, will help team to build further.