Pakistan axes Akmal, recalls Gul for Sri Lanka Tests

The 21-year-old Lahore batsman was overlooked for the Sri Lanka series after he failed to impress much on the recently concluded tour of Zimbabwe.
Umar, who began his Test career with a bang with scores of 129 and 75 in his debut appearance against New Zealand in Dunedin in November 2009, has hit just two fifties in his last 23 Test innings. He has played 16 Tests so far, scoring 1003 runs at 35.82.
The Lahore batsman’s loss is Shoaib Malik’s gain as the former Pakistan captain has been retained in the Test squad for the “home” series against Sri Lanka. The seasoned all-rounder spent almost a year in international wilderness because of corruption suspicions but was cleared for national duty ahead of the tour of Zimbabwe.
Malik made an unimpressive one-day comeback in Zimbabwe where he wasn’t even fielded in the one-off Test that Pakistan won in Bulawayo.
After fielding a second string bowling attack against Zimbabwe, Pakistan have recalled their pace spearhead Umar Gul. Also brought back in the squad is left-armed pacer Wahab Riaz, who was overlooked for the Zimbabwe assignment. Spinner Abdur Rehman is also back after being rested for the series against Zimbabwe and will be joining Saeed Ajmal as one of the two specialist spinners in UAE. Leggie Yasir Shah has been dropped.
Young left-arm pacer Junaid Khan and Aizaz Cheema, who both made their Test debuts in Zimbabwe, have been retained in Pakistan’s pace battery. Sohail Tanvir and Tanvir Ahmed have been overlooked for the three-match series, which will tee off with the opening Test in Abu Dhabi from October 18.
The selectors have kept faith in left-handed opener Taufeeq Umar besides retaining Imran Farhat.
Mohsin Khan, Pakistan’s chief selector, told reporters here at the National Stadium on Sunday that the squad was picked on the basis of the players’ performance both at the domestic and international level.
“We have a tough series coming up against Sri Lanka and have chosen the best possible team for it,” said Mohsin, a former Test opener. “We have been monitoring the players’ performances both at the home and abroad and have picked them on that basis.”
Mohsin stressed that Umar Akmal has been dropped because he has been unable to impress much in Test matches in recent times.
“He (Umar) is a talented batsman but the problem is that the graph of his performance in Test cricket has really gone down which is why we have decided to drop him,” said Mohsin.
The selectors have instead chosen Umar Akmal to represent Pakistan at the 2011 Hong Kong Sixes tournament which will explode into action on October 28.
Seasoned allrounder Abdul Razzaq, out of Pakistan’s plans following this year’s World Cup, has been named the captain of the Hong Kong-bound squad that also includes Sohail Tanvir.
Players like Umar Akmal and Sohail Tanvir are likely to return to the Pakistan lineup for the One-day International and Twenty20 games against Sri Lanka to be played next month. Mohsin said that the team for the limited-overs matches will be announced later.
Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal (wk), Shoaib Malik, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Aizaz Cheema, Wahab Raiz, Umar Gul, Junaid Khan
Tanvir Ahmed, Mohammad Talha, Yasir Shah, Sarfraz Ahmed
Razzaq, Sohail Tanvir, Umer Akmal, Rameez Raja, Hammad Azam, Yasir Shah, Sharjeel Khan.