PAKISTAN named struggling former captain Younus Khan in their 17-man squad for the five-match one-day series in Australia despite his poor form.
"Younus is a big-match player and his performance in the domestic matches are not a yardstick for his selection,'' said chief of selectors Iqbal Qasim.
The one-day squad will be captained by Mohammad Yousuf.
"We wanted (Younus) to play the domestic matches to bring back his focus and keep his fitness,'' Qasim said.
The 32-year-old Younus pulled out of Pakistan's tour of New Zealand and stepped down as captain in November due to poor batting form and then made himself unavailable for the Test tour of Australia.
The break was supposed to give the elegant batsman time to regain his edge but Younus, who plays for Habib Bank in Pakistan, has continued to struggle.
He scored just seven and four in the final of the country's premier first-class tournament last month.
The first of the five one-day matches in Australia will be played at Brisbane on January 22, while the only Twenty20 match is scheduled for Melbourne on February 5.
After the one-day series, Younus and Yousuf will return home because they are not part of the 16-man Twenty20 squad.
Squad (one-day): Mohammad Yousuf (capt), Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Umer Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Asif, Umar Gul, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Aamir, Sarfraz Ahmed, Fawad Alam, Younus Khan, Shahid Afridi (vice captain), Rao Iftikhar, Khalid Latif, Rana Naved-ul-hasan.
Twenty20: Shahid Afridi (capt), Imran Farhat, Fawad Alam, Umer Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar, Shoaib Malik, Khalid Latif, Mohammad Aamir, Rana Naved-ul-hasan, Sarfraz Ahmed, Salman Butt, Imran Nazir, Mohammad Asif.
"Younus is a big-match player and his performance in the domestic matches are not a yardstick for his selection,'' said chief of selectors Iqbal Qasim.
The one-day squad will be captained by Mohammad Yousuf.
"We wanted (Younus) to play the domestic matches to bring back his focus and keep his fitness,'' Qasim said.
The 32-year-old Younus pulled out of Pakistan's tour of New Zealand and stepped down as captain in November due to poor batting form and then made himself unavailable for the Test tour of Australia.
The break was supposed to give the elegant batsman time to regain his edge but Younus, who plays for Habib Bank in Pakistan, has continued to struggle.
He scored just seven and four in the final of the country's premier first-class tournament last month.
The first of the five one-day matches in Australia will be played at Brisbane on January 22, while the only Twenty20 match is scheduled for Melbourne on February 5.
After the one-day series, Younus and Yousuf will return home because they are not part of the 16-man Twenty20 squad.
Squad (one-day): Mohammad Yousuf (capt), Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Umer Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Asif, Umar Gul, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Aamir, Sarfraz Ahmed, Fawad Alam, Younus Khan, Shahid Afridi (vice captain), Rao Iftikhar, Khalid Latif, Rana Naved-ul-hasan.
Twenty20: Shahid Afridi (capt), Imran Farhat, Fawad Alam, Umer Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar, Shoaib Malik, Khalid Latif, Mohammad Aamir, Rana Naved-ul-hasan, Sarfraz Ahmed, Salman Butt, Imran Nazir, Mohammad Asif.
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