PCB announces 35 player squad for Asia Cup

This is the official list from the PCB website...

Media Release - 25 May 2010

Chairman PCB Mr. Ijaz Butt and Chairman Selection Committee Mr. Mohsin Khan today announced 35 probables and the Team Management for the upcoming Asia Cup and England Tour in a press conference at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore. The selected players are:

Openers:
1. Salman Butt
2. Imran Farhat
3. Yasir Hameed
4. Khurram Manzoor
5. Shahzaib Hassan
6. Azhar Ali
7. Azeem Ghumman

Middle Order:
8. Younis Khan
9. Shoaib Malik
10. Umar Akmal
11. Faisal Iqbal
12. Fawad Alam
13. Hasan Raza
14. Asad Shafiq
15. Umar Amin
16. Aamer Sajjad
17. Mohammad Hafeez

All Rounders:
18. Shahid Afridi - (Captain)
19. Abdul Razzaq
20. Yasir Arafat

Fast Bowlers:
21. Umar Gul
22. Shoaib Akhtar
23. Mohammad Asif
24. Mohammad Aamer
25. Muhammad Sami
26. Wahab Riaz
27. Mohammad Irfan
28. Tanvir Ahmed
29. Aizaz Cheema

Spinners:
30. Danish Kaneria
31. Abdur Rehman
32. Saeed Ajmal
33. Zulfiqar Babar

Wicket-Keepers:
34. Kamran Akmal
35. Zulqarnain Haider

TEAM MANAGEMENT:
1. Yawar Saeed - Manager
2. Shafqat Rana - Associate Manager
3. Waqar Younis - Coach
4. Ejaz Ahmed - Associate Coach
5. Aaqib Javed - Assistant Coach
6. Faisal Hayat - Physiotherapist
7. David Dwyer - Trainer
8. Umer Farooq - Analyst
9. Khawaja Najam - Security Manager

Great to see Akhtar and Malik back

I wanna see Shoaib Akhtar in t20 format against international sides! He should focus on that.

lol @ post-match celebrations hahaahahahahaha....
I am all for shoaib akhtar to be in limited overs... he can be devastating.

heres the article on cricinfo:

Shahid Afridi has been named Pakistan's Test and ODI captain ahead of a busy summer which takes in the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and then six Tests, five ODIs, as well as four T20Is, in England against Australia and the hosts. Pakistan's board and selectors also opened the door on a possible return for Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik, two men only recently banned by the board for indiscipline. Another old hand at the indiscipline game, Shoaib Akhtar, has been called up in a 35-man list of probables, which will be culled down before the two events.

The squad announcements were among the most eagerly-awaited in some time, given the chaos that followed since the tour to Australia. Pakistan effectively have been without a Test and ODI captain since then and had punished seven leading players - including four former captains - over disciplinary issues. But in recent days, speculation had grown that Afridi, already the Twenty20 captain, would be appointed.

Once he had publicly announced that he would be available to play Tests, a format he had left four years ago, the decision was all but sealed to once again unite the leadership of all three formats under one man: "We requested Afridi to take on the Test captaincy and he very graciously accepted," Ijaz Butt, chairman PCB, told reporters, flanked by Afridi and Mohsin Khan, chief selector. Today Afridi spent in meetings with Butt and the selectors to finalise a probables list.

Afridi now becomes the 27th man to lead Pakistan in Tests and the fourth captain since the start of 2009.The decision remains a risky one, given that Afridi played the last of his 26 Tests almost exactly four years ago on Pakistan's last tour to England. Until recently he has appeared unsure about a return to the format, but it is believed the appointment was part of an agreement to become the Twenty20 captain before the World Twenty20.

Afridi asked for patience in what he accepted will be a challenging role. "As a challenge I have accepted this," Afridi said. "Pakistan needs a senior player right now to lead them and that is why I accepted this. I don't think we should have too many expectations for Test cricket right now but I will try to get our ranking up to where it should be."

The other big decisions were recalling the two former captains Younis and Malik back into the squad. Their return is dependent on their appeals against the ban being overturned by an independent arbitrator, but having been selected it seems unlikely their bans will now stay. In any case the PCB has thawed in recent days, Butt telling reporters yesterday that he will review the punishments and praising Younis in particular. Younis was handed an indefinite ban by an inquiry committee after the Australia tour earlier this year and Malik was given a one-year ban; neither's indiscretions were specified, only a vague reference made to acts of indiscipline and unsettling the team.

But their potential return and that of Shoaib [Akhtar] was insisted upon by Afridi, who said the summer would require experienced heads at the helm. Shoaib last played an international for Pakistan in May 2009 and his last Test back in December 2007, but has this season turned out in domestic cricket in a bid to prove his fitness; he was particularly impressive in the Pentangular ODI cup in Karachi recently.

"It will be good if we can get back Younis and Shoaib because the team will be stronger with them in it," Afridi said. "England is always a difficult challenge as a tour and you need experienced players on it. The mix has to be right between juniors and seniors."

Afridi revealed that he had also spoken to Mohammad Yousuf in a bid to get him to take back his retirement and return to international cricket. Yousuf had walked away from the game earlier this year after also being handed an indefinite ban by the board and he is the only one of the seven players punished not to have appealed against his punishment. But Afridi said Yousuf was unwilling to change his mind.

The 15-man squad for the Asia Cup will be decided in the first week of June after a short, five to six-day training camp in Karachi. The squad for England will be decided soon after that.

Probables: Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed, Khurram Manzoor, Shahzaib Hassan, Azhar Ali, Azeem Ghumman, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Faisal Iqbal, Fawad Alam, Hassan Raza, Asad Shafiq, Umar Amin, Aamer Sajjad, Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Afridi (capt), Abdul Razzaq, Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Sami, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Irfan, Tanvir Ahmed, Aizaz Cheema, Danish Kaneria, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Zulfiqar Babar, Kamran Akmal (wk), Zulqarnain Haider (wk)

Osman Samiuddin is Pakistan editor of Cricinfo
Shahid Afridi to lead in Asia Cup and England tour | Cricket News | Global | Cricinfo.com

True.... I dont knwo what happened. I dont think it matters much bcz no matter what, they will take 15 with them to asia cup and england tour. the other 15-18 will be backup for call or injury etc

its a good thing... every category has new faces. Good going by PCB and Mohsin hasan khan. InshaAllah this will give youngsters hope and motivation to work hard

YUU HOOOOOOO! no misbah...but where the hell are sohail khan and mohammad talha? i hope malik gets a life ban after the appeal and yousuf gets a call up from ijaz butt himself....pretty fair selection otherwise..:|

I was definately expecting mohammad talha...... he should be brought in ODI's or T20.

I hope we get to see him in action after this tour in summer.

Just realized.... where is Hammad Azam??

pretty fair side but Malik and Younis should control their ego's and play for the team not for themselves.

my line up would be :

Salman Butt
Shahzaib Hassan
Fawad Alam
Umar Akmal
Shahid Afridi
Kamran Akmal
Abdur Razzaq
Mohammad Aamir
Saeed Ajmal/Abdur Rehman
Mohammad Asif
Umar Gul/Shoaib Akhtar

Please dont drop asif coz he will be able to move the ball around on sri lankan wickets and in odi's he wont get hit alot like t20's.

Selectors think he is too good to be playing for Pakistan!

This Player Naveed Yasin, i was very impressed by his records and stroke Plays, . he mede about 6-8 centuries in the quad-e-azam trophy, he should have been given a chance.. Hammad Azam, well he does not a have a good first class record ..

Kamran Akmal wants to sue Aaqib javed, n Aaqib is in the squad as a assistant coach .. ..

Yk should be picked for tests and ODIs. He was just out of form. He is still a better player than most of these posers in the team.

As for malik, he should not set foot on a cricket field ever again, at least not in green

And we have Khurra Manzoor back. What a joke. This guy has the worst technique ever.

Goofd to see Akhtar, Irfan in there. I would love to see Akhtar, Aamer, Asif, and Irfan in a test match.

Very disappointing to NOT see Sarfaraz name for wicket keeping.

What is the purpose of having two bowling coaches when we really need is a btting coach.
I mean I can see Ijaz being a decent fielding coach but two bowling coaches.....come on.

Waqar Younis - Coach
Ejaz Ahmed - Associate Coach
Aaqib Javed - Assistant Coach

It would be interesting to see the descriptions of these management positions such as "Analyst", "Physiotherapist", "Trainer". Why does Yawar Saeed (manager) needs an assistant manager?

i cant believe it taht hassan raza once again is in teh the 35 man probabals. He is nto gona make the team defienetly y did they put his name in it. he already made 4 comebacks in apks team and now a 5th chance, y wasnt adan raza in the 35 man probabels his average is soo good, and i am even surprise that rasa hassan name i snot in theri too. But stil its not a bad 35 man squad i like it.

wth mhd irfan over hammad azam.
azam was even part fo the 15 man t20 cup squad.

That was a stupid decision in the 1st place. Selectors selected Hammad and now the same selectors dropped him.

I agree ^^ they should have gone for hammad over irfan. Hammad is handy with the bat. But oh well we have Yasir Arafat the domestic bully.

dosnt matter. teh squad is good. Now lets hope taht the 15 man squad is also good to

My 15 member squad for Asia Cup.
1. Salman Butt
2. Yasir Hameed
3. Shahzaib Hassan
4. Younis Khan
5. Shoaib Malik
6. Umar Akmal
7. Fawad Alam
8. Kamran Akmal
9. Umar Amin
10. Shahid Afridi
11. Abdul Razzaq
12. Shoaib Akhtar
13. Mohammad Asif
14. Mohammad Aamer
15. Saeed Ajmal

my 15 man squad
1. Salman Butt
2. Yasir Hameed
3. Shahzaib Hassan
4. Younis Khan
5. Azhar Ali
6. Umar Akmal
7.Asad Shafiq
8. Kamran Akmal
9. Umar Amin
10.umar gul
11. Abdul Razzaq
12. mohammad irfan
13. Mohammad Asif
14. Abdur rehman
15. Saeed Ajmal
if they r gona put ammer in the england test series, then rite now they should give him rest. Becasue later on he wil be playing alot of games.

*Sigh* The weasal returns...

Good to see the likes of Azhar Ali, Umar Amin, Asad Shafiq and Azeem Ghumman there. Hopefully, they'll make the final squad and not the recycled rubbish (M Sami, F Iqbal, H Raza, M Hafeez).

actually they made the weasel-snake hybrid the captain.

Flame me all you will, but I present to you the new look (and by new look I mean never going to happen) Pakistan squad.

Mind you, if I were selector none of the following players would ever be allowed within 500 Meters of an international fixture:
-Hafeez
-Misbah
-Farhat
-Nazir
-Sami
-Iqbal

Now, to the good stuff! Mind you, this is in theory a test XI.

1. Salman Butt (vc)
2. Azhar Ali
3. Sheharyar Ghani
4. Umar Akmal
5. Fawad Alam
6. Kamran Akmal (wk) <---- Spoiled for choice aren't we?
7. Shahid Afridi (c)
8. Mohammed Aamer
9. Shoaib Akhtar
10. Danish Kaneria
11. Mohammed Asif

12. Mohammad Irfan
13. Umar Gul
14. Azeem Ghumman
15. Hammad Azam
16. Ali Asad (wk)

First of all, I have absolutely no dreams of this team ever coming to fruition as our selectors are obviously in the words of Mr. Alam "retarded".

I understand such a team would be inexperienced though there really isn't anywhere to go but up. The omission of certain senior players in my eyes is inevitable, not to mention weasels with pending appeals (no, not YK. Though his time is about up anyways).

Azhar Ali, and Ghani both made the cut for me. They both seem sensible young players (must have been raised outside of Pakistan) and technically decent. Alongside that, their track records are relatively better than those of Umar Amin, and Azeem Ghumman, albeit with a bit more experience. That said, Azeem still makes the cut due to having a good head on his shoulders (on a side note, I've never seen anyone with a "bad" head, terrible saying I think). Of course, the inclusion of Ali Asad is rather unexpected by many, though I've had my eye on him for a short while and he is due a fair chance with some solid domestic performances. Although it does remain a mystery to me just how well he'll don the gloves, I'm sure his keeping skills will have the senior Akmal in a cold sweat. Of course, in reality Irfan shouldn't be in this squad, and this inclusion may well kill my credibility but I just want to see the man towering over someone like Tendulkar before he gets hammered around the park.

Hammad Azam and Ghumman don't make the starting XI solely for the reason that some more time spent in the company of the "big boys" would be beneficial to the duo. Gul also doesn't feature in the starting XI due to some poor form which I'm certain he will overcome with time.

Controversial as it may be, I do think Akthar should get a go, not so much because I like the character he is (sarcasm is quite difficult via text, isn't it?) but rather, we've seen that genuine pace does have it's place in the longer format.

Finally, in regards to the lack of "senior" players, I must ask, what is their purpose? To lead by example? To educate and nurture young talent? To perform? Well, I'm sure they'll do all of those things once their bans are overturned.

Oh, and might I thank the PCB for providing us with so much cannon fodder, for if Pakistan were a winning side, these forums would be as empty as a West Indian cricket ground.

Welcome Shirazi. Nice to see some more poster who can logically present their point of view ..... not that everybody has to agree with each other's point of view .... but as long as you have a good enough, smart and itelligent reason, that is more than enough.

Having said that, I have to agree with most of your points but disagree with some! See in blue color.

I'm happy the likes of Asad Shafiq, Aamer Sajjad and Azhar Ali made it to the squad but I have the feeling the likes of Faisal Iqbal and Mohammad Hafeez will be selected ahead of them, but i hope not.

Also i would have thought Asad Ali(domestically has been performing well especially for a 21 year old) or Raza Hassan should have been selected, both are excellent bowlers who deserve to be in the camp but i guess this has been one of the better squads than in previous years with a lot of emphasis on new players. Just wonder who Afridi is willing to try out in the Asia Cup.

I agree ... Shoaib Akhtar should concentrate more on ODIs & T-20 rather than the Test Series.. He can't bowl more than 10 overs

I think pcb and the selectors know alot better tehn us. they know how to pick sqauds.

Quite a bold statement if I may say so myself. Not a particularly correct one in my honest (and possibly crass) opinion. Sure, their titles are well beyond our own, but lest we forget that these are the individuals who denied so very many young talents a chance to stake their claim. Rather, they gave the likes of Farhat, Nazir, and Hafeez more lives than a litter of kittens.

I won't blame the state of Pakistani cricket solely on the PCB, but what I will tell you is that they show no interest in laying the foundation for a brighter future, nor any interest in moving forward.