LAHORE, May 10: All-rounder Mohammad Hafeez was named as the new Twenty20 skipper for Pakistan besides getting promoted as vice-captain for the Test and ODI teams for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka as national selectors axed Misbah-ul-Haq from the T20 squad but retained him as captain for the Tests and the ODIs.

The decisions were announced at a crowded press conference at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) here on Thursday led by PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf who was flanked by chief selector Iqbal Qasim, director international and NCA chief Intikhab Alam, PCB chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed as well as the two captains Misbah and Hafeez.

Misbah, who looked visibly disappointed at the presser after getting axed from the T20 squad, however endorsed the selectors’ decisions but could not hide his feelings while speaking to the media later in the day.

“Cricket is my passion and it is not easy to give it up in any format. But whenever the PCB will call me for this format, I will be available,” he said.

Misbah disclosed that he had himself recommended the name of Hafeez as captain for the T20 squad as he believed the all-rounder had the talent to lead the country, especially after he successfully led Pakistan ‘A’ and some outfits in the domestic tournaments.

Hafeez, also speaking on the occasion, thanked the PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf for reposing the confidence in him as leader for the T20 format and vowed to give his 110 per cent as captain.

Popularly known as ‘professor’ among his colleagues, Hafeez said he had learnt a lot from Misbah who inspired everyone with his calm approach towards things and the manner in which he led the team as a fighting unit in adverse circumstances.

However, when PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf was asked to give a solid reason for change in captaincy for the Twenty20 format, he could only come up with the argument that other countries were appointing different captains for separate formats, so the PCB also followed that policy.

Zaka said he had no problems with Misbah’s performance as captain in the T20 format, but sometimes the situations demanded some decisions and this was a similar case. “Misbah is an excellent player and he has played a great role for the betterment of Pakistan cricket.

But everyone has to go at some time and the PCB has taken this decision with the future in view,” Zaka said.

Misbah, 38, who was handed the captaincy in 2010 just as Pakistan grappled with the repercussions of the nasty spot-fixing scandal at Lord’s, has gone on to become one of the most successful captains in Pakistan’s cricket history.

It is to his credit that he has moulded the Pakistan team into a fighting unit since taking over the reins and has led Pakistan to many wins in all forms of the game. For the record, Misbah has led the national team to victory in nine Test matches out of a total of 15, to 16 ODI wins out of a total of 22 besides winning five T20 contests out of seven.

Meanwhile, the selectors recalled some tried and tested as well as some undisciplined players for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka, starting from June 1 with a T20 match.

Paceman Mohammad Sami, middle-order batsman Faisal Iqbal and Imran Farhat managed to find places in different formats as chief selector Iqbal Qasim defended their selection. He said Sami’s performance at domestic circuit was outstanding and he was eligible for a place in both shorter versions and the Test team.

Commenting on Imran Farhat’s selection, Iqbal said the left-handed opener had scored around 400 runs in the National One-day Cup and his averages in the UAE were also good enough to give him another chance in the one-day squad alongside openers Mohammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed.

“Some people may not be happy with Imran, but till the time he keeps fulfilling the merit, I will continue to pick him,” he said.

However, senior all-rounder Shoaib Malik’s omission from the one-day squad was indeed a surprising one since the former skipper was declared as the best all-rounder of the last National One-day Cup. Malik has now been confined to the T20 squad only.

Iqbal added that pacer Wahab Riaz was going through a lean patch and so he was not selected for any format.

PCB chief Zaka Ashraf intervened on the occasion to say that there was zero-tolerance for the undisciplined players. However, when asked why opener Ahmad Shahzad had been selected for T20 despite repeated offences and fines in domestic and international games, the chairman promised that in the future he (Ahmad) will not be spared for any act of indiscipline.

For not selecting Kamran Akmal in any squad, Iqbal said the former Test wicket-keeper performances were not good at domestic level and furthermore he was not cleared by the PCB for selection.

On ignoring dashing Umar Akmal from the Test side, Iqbal said: “To get a place in the Test team Umar has to show maturity in his batting.

Every batsman gets out in Test matches but no one throws the wicket like he does and he has to overcome this problem.”

Meanwhile, many players also made the places in different teams, without appearing in the fitness test and without their appearances in the two practice matches held at the Gaddafi Stadium on May 7 and 8 to finalise the selection.

The new faces in the T20 squad included wicket-keeper/batsman from Sialkot Shakeel Ansar who caught the selectors’ eye when he hit a century in the National T20 against Peshawar Panthers. Haris Sohail and Raza Hasan also earned their places for their fine performances in the T20 Cup.

Afaq Raheem, an opening batsman of Islamabad Region, and Ayub Dogar of Sialkot Region who have been showing consistency at the domestic level, finally got the nod for the Test matches.

Pakistan will play two T20 matches against Sri Lanka followed by five ODIs and three Test matches before concluding the tour on July 12.

Squads:

T20: Khalid Latif, Ahmed Shahzad, Mohammad Hafeez (captain), Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Shakeel Ansar (wicket-keeper), Shahid Afridi, Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir, Saeed Ajmal, Raza Hasan, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Sami, Hammad Azam, Nasir Jamshed.

ODIs: Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Umar Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Rahat Ali, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Mohammad Sami, Asad Shafiq, Aizaz Cheema, Azhar Ali, Imran Farhat Tests: Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Azhar Ali, Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal (wicketkeeper), Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Mohammad Sami, Faisal Iqbal, Junaid Khan, Afaq Raheem, Mohammad Ayub, Aizaz Cheema, Ayub Dogar.