Pakistan name Younis Khan in Test squad for Australia series

Younis Khan has been included in the Pakistan Test squad for their forthcoming series with Australia amid a growing row over the one-day captaincy.

Khan threatened to quit Tests after he was left out of the one-day international squad which went on to lose 3-0 to the Australians. But he has been named in a 15-man squad which will be captained by the under-pressure Misbah-ul-Haq.

Misbah dropped himself from the team for the third ODI last weekend following a run of low scores.

Afridi knows what he should say and what he shouldn't, and in my opinion the things he said were irresponsible. PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan

The man who replaced him as skipper, Shahid Afridi, says the Pakistan Cricket Board should make a decision now on who will captain the team at the World Cup.

The PCB has hit back, saying Afridi will now potentially face disciplinary action for his comments. They confirmed that Misbah will remain as captain for the World Cup unless he continues to struggle for runs in two forthcoming Test series, in which case, he will step down.

"Afridi knows what he should say and what he shouldn't, and in my opinion the things he said were irresponsible," PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan said.

"Misbah was, himself, worried because he's not been scoring since the series against Sri Lanka (in August)," Khan said.

Burden

"He didn't want to be a burden on the team, and that's why he opted to sit out due to his poor batting form."

Misbah has five Tests (two against Australia and three against New Zealand) before Pakistan play their next one-day international against the Kiwis in December.

"Misbah feels if he can't find his batting form in these five Test matches, he will step down from the captaincy," Khan said.

Misbah feels if he can't find his batting form in these five Test matches, he will step down from the captaincy.

Also in the squad was opening batsman Mohammad Hafeez, who missed out on the ODI series due to a hand injury, but is fit for the first Test.

Opening batsman Khurram Manzoor was dropped after scoring only 39 runs in the last Test series against Sri Lanka, which Pakistan lost 2-0. Pakistan will also be without injured fast bowlers Wahab Riaz and Junaid Khan.

The first of two Tests starts in Dubai on October 22. The 19-man squad will be trimmed to 15 after a four-day match between Pakistan A and Australia ends in Sharjah on Saturday.

Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Shan Masood, Sami Aslam, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Harris Sohail, Mohammad Talha, Rahat Ali, Imran Khan, Ehsan Adil, Attaullah, Sarfraz Ahmed, Zulfiqar Babar, Yasir Shah, Raza Hassan.