Yousuf gets Afridi’s backing for the World Cup

Afridi forces Yousuf's inclusion in preliminary squad during meeting with PCB chairman Ijaz Butt.

KARACHI: Out-of-favour batsman Mohammad Yousuf’s chances of getting a berth in the World Cup brightened after captain Shahid Afridi forced his inclusion in the preliminary squad during a meeting with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ijaz Butt.

The limited-overs captain met the PCB chief in Lahore yesterday to give his input on the selection of squads for the One-Day International (ODI) series against New Zealand as well as the World Cup. According to a PCB official, Afridi forced the inclusion of the seasoned batsman, stressing the need of experienced players in the team for the important assignments.

“Afridi stressed the need of Yousuf’s inclusion in the squad, saying that he needs experienced players in the absence of various regular players,” the official told The Express Tribune.

Yousuf, who returned from the UAE midway through the home series against South Africa, was overlooked for the ongoing tour of New Zealand. The official said that Yousuf was not in list of World Cup probables but following Afridi’s insistence, he may get included.

“Afridi said that Yousuf will be badly needed, especially if the suspected and suspended players fail to get a clean chit and the chairman assured his support. The meeting was held in a friendly atmosphere where the chairman assured Afridi the best available players for the World Cup.”

Clearance issues hampering selection

The PCB is set to exclude Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir from the 30-man list due to the spot-fixing controversy while the selection of Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal and Danish Kaneria also remains unclear.

“The Integrity Committee is yet to reach a conclusion. They will meet today where they will take a final decision.”

Selection committee meets today

The members of selection committee will once again assemble in Lahore to discuss selection of the World Cup and New Zealand ODIs. The selectors delayed the announcement following back-to-back meetings last week after they failed to get clean chits on players under investigation.

“We will be holding a meeting on Tuesday and may announce squads for both the assignments soon afterwards,” said chief selector Mohsin Khan.

“We may delay the announcement by a day if the situation remains unclear as we have one more day left [before the ICC deadline].”

The ICC extended the deadline for the World Cup squad announcement till January 5, following the PCB request which failed to finalise the squad within the initial December 19 deadline given to all the participating teams.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2011.