Yousuf, Akmal ruled out by Pakistan

Pakistan selectors have left out late-arriving former captain Mohammad Yousuf and dropped wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal for the second Test against hosts England at Edgbaston starting tomorrow.



The controversial Yousuf, who ended a four-month retirement last month, was summoned from Pakistan in a high-risk move, but he arrived only this afternoon, missed the last practice, and ruled himself out of contention because of tiredness.



Yousuf was blamed for disrupting the team and poor leadership during an inquiry into the ill-fated tour of Australia in March. After receiving an indefinite ban from the national team, he retired.



However, when Pakistan scored only 80 to lose the first test at Trent Bridge by 354 runs last weekend, the selectors overlooked Yousuf's divisiveness in the dressing room by gambling on his outstanding record in England. Yousuf averaged 90 on the last tour in 2006.



The only middle-order batsman to pay for poor effort at Trent Bridge was Akmal, who was out for a duck in both innings and wasn't sharp behind the stumps.



Akmal will be replaced by Zulqarnain Haider, who will make his test debut.