Mohammad Yousuf has been retained as Pakistan captain for the Test and One-Day International series in Australia starting this month. Yousuf will lead the side after regular captain Younus Khan made himself unavailable for the tour which includes three Tests, five One-Day Internationals and two Twenty20 matches. “Younus didn't make himself available for the tour so we have not considered him. As it is he has not played any domestic cricket as well to prove his form,” chief selector Iqbal Qasim said Tuesday. Younus pulled out of the Test tour of New Zealand last month after his team lost a one-day series to the Kiwis in Abu Dhabi, citing his poor form with the bat. Yousuf led the side in his absence. “Yousuf will be captain for the Tests and ODIs in Australia while Shahid Afridi will captain the side in the T20 internationals and be the vice captain for the ODIs,” the PCB said in a statement. The selectors have dropped reserve wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed and Yasir Arafat for the Australia tour. The first Test starts in Melbourne from Dec. 26. Qasim said the team for ODI series against Australia will be named after the second Test ends at Sydney on Jan. 7. Test squad: Mohammad Yousuf (captain), Misbahul Haq, Salman Butt, Khurrum Manzoor, Imran Farhat, Shoaib Malik, Faisal Iqbal, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Fawad Alam, Abdul Rauf, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Danish Kaneria. Pakistan wants series against ICC world XI Pakistan's cricket authorities have proposed a fund-raising one-day series in England next year against a world XI selected by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after failing to attract teams to play in Pakistan because of security fears. The idea was proposed by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ejaz Butt during a meeting with the ICC special task force on Pakistan in Dubai last week, Rameez Raja, a member of the task force said. 2011 hosts set for home quarters and semifinals Host nations at the 2011 World Cup in Asia are set to be allowed to play quarter and semifinal matches on their own soil, according to plans submitted to the International Cricket Council (ICC). The next World Cup will be staged in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. A meeting of the ICC's chief executives' committee, held at the global governing body's Dubai headquarters, backed plans from the World Cup central organizing committee that, where possible, host countries should play their quarterfinals and semifinals in their own country. Where two co-hosts are involved, the higher-ranked side from the group stage will host the match. This recommendation will now be considered in February at the next ICC board meeting, in Dubai. India's financial capital Mumbai is due to stage the next World Cup final, on April 2, 2011, at the renovated Wankhede ground.
