Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi have decided against going to Houston, United States to play in the three-match exhibition series between the Asian eleven and World eleven being organised by the Cricket World International (CWI).
‘The News’ has learnt that while Younis had pulled out of the series at the last moment, Afridi was also not going there after failing to reach an agreement with the organisers for appearance fees.
“Basically, the situation is that even Yousuf Youhana is in Pakistan with his ailing father and it’s not clear if he would be able to fly to Houston for the matches,” a source in the team said.
The CWI is holding the matches on June 15, 17 and 19 in Houston and have signed on Indian players Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Sri Lankan players Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Dilhara Fernando for the matches.
The CWI had also announced that Inzamam, Afridi, Younis, Youhana, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami would take part from Pakistan in these three games.
But now apparently with the change of plans in the Pakistan team, the source said, the assistant manager of the touring side, in the West Indies, had been told by Afridi and Younis they were not going to Houston while Inzamam was uncertain.
“The assistant manager is now coordinating the visas and travel arrangements with the help of Inzamam and it’s likely that Shoaib Malik, Abdul Razzaq, Arshad Khan, Yasir Hameed etc might fill in for the other players,” the source said.
The Pakistani players are expected to fly out straight to Houston from the West Indies where their tour ends on June 7.
The News
