ISLAMABAD — Misbahul Haq was retained as Pakistan captain for next month's Test series against South Africa despite poor results culminating in a first loss to Zimbabwe in 15 years. Misbah's position was announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board Thursday, but the full Test squad will be announced later. The PCB also said 23-year-old batsman Umar Amin will skipper Pakistan A in a three-day warm-up game against the Proteas. A training camp for Pakistan probables will be held in Lahore next week from Monday, and 28 players will participate. Pakistan has won only one of five Tests this year, and that against lowly-ranked Zimbabwe this month. Zimbabwe, however, came back to win the second Test to square that series two weeks ago, its first win over a major Test team in 12 years. Pakistan hadn't lost to Zimbabwe since 1998. South Africa whitewashed Pakistan 3-0 in a Test series at home in February. They will meet again in two Tests in Abu Dhabi from Oct. 14-18, and Dubai the following week. Amin, a left-hander, lost his place in the Test team three years ago when he scored only 99 runs in four Tests during Pakistan's controversial tour of England in 2010. The series was marred by a spot-fixing scandal after which three Pakistan players were banned for several years and Misbah became the captain in Test and One-Day Internationals. The three-day match will be in Sharjah from Oct. 8-10 followed by the Tests. After that series will be five one-Day internationals and two Twenty20s. The A team includes Pakistan Test players Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Faisal Iqbal and Aizaz Cheema. Legspinner Usman Qadir, son of former test cricketer Abdul Qadir, is also among the 15 players. Pakistan A: Umar Amin (captain), Shaan Masood, Ahmed Shehzad, Azhar Ali, Faisal Iqbal, Asad Shafiq, Ehsan Adil, Ahmad Jamal, Akber-ur-Rehman, Usman Qadir, Yasir Shah, Sohaib Maqsood, Aizaz Cheema, Imran Khan, Mohammad Rizwan. Pakistan probables: Khurram Manzoor, Sohaib Maqsood, Younis Khan, Misbahul Haq, Faisal Iqbal, Adnan Akmal, Abdul Rehman, Usman Qadir, Junaid Khan, Rahat Ali, Wahab Riaz, Ahmed Shahzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Umar Amin, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saeed Ajmal, Zulfiqar Babar, Yasir Shah, Aizaz Cheema, Ehsan Adil, Ahmed Jamal, Akbar-ur-Rehman, Imran Khan, Mohammad Rizwan. Hot Spot a stinker: KP England batsman Kevin Pietersen declared that Hot Spot “had an absolute stinker” during the Ashes series, but said that players remain supportive of the technology. The decision review system (DRS) came in for criticism during the series, which England won 3-0, with Hot Spot's infra-red imaging falling under particular scrutiny after a number of inaccurate decisions. Pietersen became embroiled in the debate when Australia's Channel 9 television station claimed he used silicone tape in a bid to prevent Hot Spot from detecting when the ball had hit his bat. The South Africa-born batsman laughed off the claims at the time but says he was bewildered by the accusation that he was a cheat. “Hot Spot had an absolute stinker this summer for whatever reason but no-one was taping their bats with any artificial strapping or silicone,” Pietersen told talkSPORT radio station. — Agencies
