Yousuf appointed Pakistan's Test and ODI captain

New Delhi:

Pakistan Cricket Board on Tuesday appointed Mohammad Yousuf as the Test and ODI captain for the upcoming Australia tour, while former captain Younus Khan has been dropped from the team.

Kamran Akmal and Shahid Afridi will be the vice-captains for Tests and ODIs respectively. Afridi, however, will continue to lead Pakistan in the T20 format.

Younus after his return was meant to play domestic cricket but the former skipper missed the 7th, 8th and 9th round of the domestic league (rounds 10 and 11 still remaining). Due to this reason and his unavailibility Younus has been dropped from the Pak cricket team.

"Younus wanted to rest but he didn't play in the domestic cricket since the one-day series against New Zealand," chief selector Iqbal Qasim told reporters. "He didn't give his availability to us and therefore we did not select him."

Pakistan are scheduled to play three Tests, five one-day internationals and one Twenty20 game in the December 19 to February 5 tour. Qasim said the team for ODI series against Australia will be named after the second Test ends at Sydney on January 7.

Test squad: Mohammad Yousuf (Captain), Salman Butt, Khurram Manzoor, Imran Farhat, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Fawad Alam, Faisal Iqbal, Kamran Akmal, Danish Kaneria, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamir, Abdul Rauf, Umar Akmal.