Pakistan wicket-keeper Rashid Latif will not play in the two Tests against South Africa later this month.
Latif has decided he wants a break from the game because of what he described as “family commitments”.
The 34-year-old recently resigned the captaincy and also served a five-game ban for claiming a controversial catch during a game against Bangladesh.
“I will be available for the home and away series against New Zealand after the South Africa Tests,” he said.
“I will be playing the last two one-dayers in Rawalpindi after which I have some commitments to take care of,” he said.
Latif’s international career has been marked by a number of run-ins with the Pakistan cricket authorities.
Earlier this year he announced he would be retiring from international cricket following the World Cup in South Africa, but was talked out of it and given the captaincy.
But he fell foul of the Pakistan Cricket Board after writing an unauthorised letter to the International Cricket Council in which he claimed players were still being approached to fix matches.
Latif led Pakistan to a Test series whitewash against Bangladesh but had to sit out the one-day games which followed because of the ban.
His subsequent resignation prompted claims that he had given up the captaincy because of a dispute with chief selector Aamir Sohail.
He insisted, however, that his decision was a personal one.
Kamran Akmal is the favourite to take over the gloves for the South Africa Tests, the first of which starts in Lahore on 17 October.
^
yay, I was waiting for PCB to give Kamran Akmal a chance. :k: Now that Inzi is captain, may be we should sit Latif “for a while” and give this guy chance so he can prove himself.
No doubt Latif is a great WK and a batsman, but… I think Rashid should retire…
I dont know about Kamran Akmal. Do you guys think he's thd future of Pakistan? I mean is he talented enough to fill in the shoes of rashid and Moeen? Is he a good batsman/slogger??
I dont know if Kamran Akmal is really the answer. He looked promising when he first came in but his keeping in the Bangaldesh series left a lot to be desired. Keep in mind at that time he was keeping against Gul and Shabir and now he will have to keep for Shoaib and Sami who are a lot quicker and move the ball a lot more.
well, i dont think Moin will be recalled and though i think Rashid must have taken this break in consensus with inzi and Javed and he will be recalled for NZ seriess but you never know with pakistan cricket :D
I would consider dropping Rashid for the final ODI and playing Akmal as an opener. It's in the test matches we will need a really good w/k and that's when Rashid's going missing. If he's not up for it he shouldn't be playing anyhow.
