KARACHI, 7 November 2003 — Pakistan have sidelined five senior players, including spinners Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed and wicketkeepers Rashid Latif and Moin Khan, for the one-day home series against New Zealand later this month.
Middle-order batsman Younis Khan was also left out from a 22-man provisional pool of players announced on Thursday for the five-match series. Leg spinner Mushtaq played in the 1-0 Test series win over South Africa last month. Off spinner Saqlain played in the one-dayers but was not selected for the Tests and was later reprimanded for criticizing coach Javed Miandad over his omission. Chief selector Aamer Sohail told Reuters that young wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal had been selected “to groom a keeper for the future. Rashid and Moin are proven performers”.
Former Pakistan captain Latif pulled out of the Test series against South Africa, citing personal commitments and opening the way for Moin’s recall after 30 months out of the team. In July this year, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) reprimanded Latif on writing a letter to the International Cricket Council revealing match-fixing was still being practiced in international cricket.
Latif, 35, who played 166 one-dayers and 37 Tests and claimed 182 catches and 38 stumpings, also lost favor with the PCB after he was banned for five one-day matches for claiming an unfair catch in a Test against Bangladesh in September this year.
Although Latif made himself available for the one-day series, the selectors opted for young Akmal.
Moin, 32, who replaced Latif in the two Tests against South Africa, was also discarded but said he doesn’t think his career is over.
