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Islamabad, Oct 10(ANI): Former skipper Wasim Akram has slammed Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)’s decision to appoint Misbah-ul-Haq as the captain for the two-Test series against South Africa.

“I was surprised when I heard that Misbah has been named the Pakistan captain. He has been out of the team since the beginning of the year and to bring him back as a captain was a bit shocking.” The Daily Times quoted Akram, as saying.

The former captain said that the PCB must think on a long-term basis as age is catching up with Misbah.

“If they have named him the captain for one series, it’s okay. He is already 36 and the PCB needs to find a long-term solution to this problem. I do not know what the vision of the selectors is,” Akram said.

Akram further said that Misbah would be under a lot of pressure, as he will be handling a team which was involved in a ’spot-fixing’ scandal.

“He will have to improve the image of Pakistan cricket. For Misbah handling the media and getting runs himself could be demanding,” Akram said.

Misbah will be the fourth player to be named captain in 2010 after Mohammad Yousuf, Shahid Afridi and Salman Butt.

The series against South Africa in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) includes two Twenty20s, five ODIs and two Tests.

Pakistan Test squad: Imran Farhat, Taufeeq Umar, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Umar Akmal. Azhar Ali, Saeed Ajmal, Danish Kaneria, Abdur Rehman, Zulqarnain Haider, Umar Gul, Tanvir Ahmed, Mohammad Sami, Wahab Riaz and Sohail Tanvir. (ANI)