Hafeez axed from Pakistan Test squad

Pakistan's national Twenty20 captain Mohammad Hafeez has been dropped from the 12-member squad named for the two-Test series against South Africa to be held in UAE later this month.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said three more players would be added to the squad before the first Test after the Pakistan 'A' plays a three-day game against the tourists in Dubai.

Hafeez's omission was on the cards after the opener accumulated just 102 runs in his last ten Test innings in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Overall his record against South Africa in Tests is also not impressive as he just managed 307 runs in eight Tests.

The Pakistani think-tank gave a clear indication of what they had planned when they included three specialist spinners in the 12-member squad including Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman and Zulfiqar Babar, who has played T20 cricket for the country recently.

Babar, a left-arm spinner, took six wickets in an innings during a three-day practice game in Lahore this week that was hit by rains.

The selectors also didn't include middle order batsman, Asad Shafiq in the 12-member squad but sources said he could be in the 15 when three more players are added to the squad.

The surprise inclusion was that of left-arm pacer, Muhammad Irfan, who has been named after not even being included initially in the list of 28 probables announced for the coming series in the UAE.

The 12-member squad: Khurrum Manzoor, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Amin, Adnan Akmal, Junaid Khan, Muhammad Irfan, Rahat Ali, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman and Zulfiqar Babar.