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Karachi: Senior players including Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan could not find a place in Pakistan's list of 30 probables for this year's Twenty20 World Cup in West Indies.
Announcing a shortlist of 30 players for the tournament which Pakistan won last year in England, PCB Chairman Ejaz Butt said that the selectors had relied more on young blood given the fast format of T20 cricket.
"We will announce the final 15-member squad on March 8 and also the captain," he said.
Senior batsman Younis Khan, who captained Pakistan to the T20 World Cup, also does not feature in the shortlist of probables.
Butt was particularly harsh while talking about fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar insisting there was no justification for picking him in the squad.
"On what basis do we select him, we can't select him on basis of just a handful of one-day matches. He has not played any international cricket for one year now," Butt said.
Shoaib, who is in danger of also being dropped from the list of players who will get central contracts this year, last played for Pakistan in May in Dubai against Australia. Since then he has undergone a knee operation and has struggled with fitness and disciplinary issues.
The board also deducted a seven million rupees fine recommended on him by an appellate tribunal in 2008 for violating the code of conduct from his earnings in 2009.
The national selectors have shown their intent by picking several members of the Pakistan under-19 team that reached the final of the ICC youth World Cup in New Zealand recently.
Hammad Azam, Babar Azam and left arm spinner Raza Hasan feature in the preliminary squad as do several new faces like batsman Naved Yasin and Kamran Yunus while Hasan Raza also makes a comeback after fine performances in domestic cricket.
The selectors have also kept faith in 37-year old Misbah-ul-haq and all-rounder Rana Naved about whom there were speculations they would be dropped from the preliminary list.
Surprisingly the selectors have picked three wicketkeepers Kamran Akmal, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Zulqarnain Haider and two left arm spinners, Raza Hasan and the 35 year old Abdul Rehman in the preliminary list as well.
Probables squad: Khalid Latif, Salman Butt, Shahzaib Hasan, Imran Farhat, Imran Nazir, Miuhammad Hafeeez, Umar Akmal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Naved Yasin, Kamran Younis, Hasan Reza, Kamran Akmal, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Zulqarnain Haider, Shahid Afridi, Fawad Alam, Rana Naved, Abdul Razzaq, Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul, Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Aamir, Wahab Riaz, Muhammad Sami, Hammad Azam, Babar Azam, Reza Hasan, Abdul Rehman, Saeed Ajmal.
