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Test discard Misbah-ul-Haq was on Thursday named to lead a 14-member Pakistan A squad in Australia later this summer.

The orthodox batsman replaces another Test batsman Hassan Raza as the Pakistan A skipper for the tour of Australia during which the team would play a series of four-day, one-day and twenty20 matches.

Hassan, who shepherded Pakistan to a title-winning triumph in the Eurasia Cup in Abu Dhabi, reportedly fell out of favour with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) following an incident during the tournament.

He was caught in a speeding car along with a few other teammates and was later fined US$300 for misconduct by the PCB. However, chief selector Wasim Bari said the reason to hand over the captaincy to Misbah is that Pakistan now wanted to try out another player in this role.

Misbah, 32, has played five Tests and 12 ODIs but has failed to earn a place in the Pakistan team since playing a ODI against Zimbabwe in Peshawar in 2004.

The selectors have included a number of youngsters in the Pakistan A squad on the basis of their performance on the domestic circuit.

Wasim Khan, Fawad Alam and Mohammad Salman have been included in the squad due to their impressive showing in domestic matches while Akhtar Ayub comes in on the basis of his performance in the Junior World Cup winning under-19 team.

Test discards Yasir Hameed and Taufiq Umar were dropped from the squad because the selectors wanted to try out new players. “Players like Yasir Hameed and Taufir Umar have been tried and tested at the highest level which is why we decided to bring in some new players in their place to give them valuable exposure,” said Bari.

The Pakistan squad:

Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Bazid Khan (vice-captain), Hasan Raza, Mohammad Hafeez Rafatullah Mohmand, Shahid Yousuf, Mansoor Amjad, Abdur Rahman, Mohammad Salman, Mohammad Khalil, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Irshad, Wasim Khan, Akhtar Ayub; Reserves: Samiullah Khan, Shahzad Malik and Tahir Khan.
Source:The News