World Twenty20 champion Pakistan on Monday unveiled the 15-man squad to tour Sri Lanka next week, including in the lineup pardoned rebel Indian league players Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Razzaq. Both Razzaq and Yousuf risked their international careers when they played in the Indian Cricket League (ICL), which is not recognized by the International Cricket Council or the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) banned all 23 players who joined the ICL, but in February this year the Sindh High Court suspended the bans on all but two ICL players, paving their way to return to Pakistan's squad. Inzamamul Haq and Saqlain Mushtaq, who are now retired, did not appeal against the ban. “Yousuf and Razzaq snapped their ties with the ICL so we have cleared them to play for Pakistan and have included in the squad,” a PCB release said. Razzaq was the first ICL player to return to international cricket after he replaced injured all-rounder Yasir Arafat and appeared in the World Twenty20, which ended Sunday with Pakistan lifting the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup. They beat Sri Lanka at Lord's in London, and will now play three Tests, five One-Day Internationals and a Twenty20 match on the Sri Lanka tour. Yousuf, 34, was declared the best Test batsman in 2007 after scoring a world record 1,788 runs in the previous calendar year. Yousuf and Razzaq joined the ICL after being left out of the team which finished runner-up in the inaugural World Twenty20 held in South Africa two years ago. All-rounder Shahid Afridi, declared Man of the Match in Pakistan's semifinal and final win in the World Twenty20, will skip the Test leg of the Sri Lanka tour but will be available for the limited over matches. Injury-prone paceman Shoaib Akhtar, who missed the World Twenty20 due to groin problems, was also not considered for selection for the Sri Lanka tour. Pakistan starts the current tour on June 29 with a three-day side match in Colombo. The first Test starts at Galle from July 4. The other two Tests will be played in Colombo (12-16 July and 20-24 July) followed by one-day series and the Twenty20 match. Squad: Younus Khan (captain), Misbahul Haq (vice-captain), Salman Butt, Khurrum Manzoor, Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Aamir, Danish Kaneria, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rauf, Faisal Iqbal, Fawad Alam. T20 win revives hopes for cricket in Pakistan Pakistan revelled in its World Twenty20 triumph Monday, as former cricket greats voiced hopes that the victory could help restore the strife-torn nation's place in international cricket. “It is a great win... It is a bit early to say but the win will definitely have an impact. People will treat Pakistan as a serious cricketing nation,” former captain Ramiz Raja said. “It will definitely lift the gloom in the country, as suddenly the team has given a reason for the people to smile and celebrate,” he added. Pakistan's already-bruised reputation as an international cricket venue was shattered on March 3 this year when insurgents launched a gun and grenade attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore. “After this win, we demand the cricket world to give us back our share of World Cup matches because we badly need cricket in our country,” said another former captain, Javed Miandad, who played in the World Cup 17 years ago. “We deserve better treatment after proving that we are world champions,” Miandad said. Meher Khalil, the bus driver whose actions were credited with saving the Sri Lankan team in the Lahore attack, agreed with Miandad. “The whole nation watching the final without any security fears has proven that we can also host matches,” said Khalil.
