PAKISTAN has left former captain Younus Khan out of the 16-man squad for the three-Test series in Australia beginning on Boxing Day at the MCG.
Younus quit the side last month saying he had lost control of the players and his cricket board says he has not been in contact or played since.
"Younus wanted to rest, but he didn't play in the domestic cricket since the one-day series against New Zealand," chief selector Iqbal Qasim said. "He didn't give his availability to us and therefore we did not select him."
Mohammad Yousuf, who quit the side to join the Indian Cricket League two seasons ago, will retain the captaincy for the Tests after returning to the team following the collapse of the rebel league.
"Mohammad Yousuf has been appointed to continue as captain of the team for Tests and the one-day series in Australia . . . Shahid Afridi will be the captain for Twenty20," the Pakistan Cricket Board said in a statement.
Yousuf has led the side during the series against New Zealand with the third and deciding Test to start tomorrow at Napier.
Younus was Pakistan's leading run-scorer on the 2004-05 tour of Australia, but Yousuf scored a memorable century in Melbourne. The side has also lost its colourful captain Izamam-ul-Haq.
Younus, 32, played for South Australia last summer and said he would make a comeback for the Australian tour.
The former captain averages 53.73 from 63 Tests and is one of the side's most successful batsmen.
Sixteen of the 18 players in New Zealand will fly directly to Australia, while all-rounder Yasir Arafat and back-up wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed have been dropped from the touring squad.
Former captain Shoaib Malik survived a push for him to be axed after a poor run during the New Zealand series.
Despite having fat sucked from his stomach in order to approximate fitness, erratic fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar was not included in the squad.
Pakistan cricket is struggling to make up a massive revenue shortfall as no side will tour the country following the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus this year.
It has apparently proposed a one-day series in England next year against a World XI and a series against India at neutral venues.
India has refused to tour since the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last year.
Australia will play a two-Test series and two Twenty20 match series against Pakistan in England next year.
The Pakistan board met a special ICC task force in Dubai this week to discuss ways to improve its financial position. Reports claim its revenue is down 71 per cent for the year and that the board lost $40m from the loss of the India series. The ICC moved the Champions Trophy from Pakistan to Mumbai over security concerns.
The Indian Premier League announced this week that no Pakistan players would be included in the next tournament as its government had refused to provide them with visas.
Squad: Mohammad Yousuf (c), Salman Butt, Khurrum Manzoor, Imran Farhat, Shoaib Malik, Fawad Alam, Faisal Iqbal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal, Danish Kaneria, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer, Abdur Rauf, Umar Akmal
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