Misbah upset over being dropped for England tour

Pakistan batsman Misbah-ul-Haq is upset about his omission from the team's forthcoming tour of England, saying his average in all forms of the game is better than most of the touring members. Pakistan had announced the squads which will face Australia in two Twenty20 matches and two Tests followed by four Tests and two Twenty20 matches against England. Misbah was left out of both squads.

"It is very disappointing," Misbah told AFP. "You find yourself in the XI and suddenly you are not even in a preliminary squad of 35, it prompts you to burn all your cricket equipment in anger."

Misbah has been in and out of the selectors' radar in the recent past. A loss of form through 2009 led to him being dropped, initially, for the tours of New Zealand and Australia. However, he was flown in midway through the New Zealand tour to shore up an inexperienced batting order. In the interim, he struck form in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in Pakistan and that prompted the then captain, Mohammad Yousuf, to push for his recall. He last played for Pakistan in the World Twenty20 in the West Indies and was dropped for the Asia Cup.

The Pakistan selectors picked a fairly inexperienced Test squad for England, including new faces like Azhar Ali and Umar Amin. Misbah felt his experience would have been useful.

"My Test average is 33, one-day is 39 and Twenty20 is 36, and if you compare it with other players it is better than many, so it makes you think what's wrong with you," said Misbah.

Misbah was in fine form in the RBS Cup fifty-over tournament in Pakistan, leading the run charts with 490 runs at 163.33 and scoring a century in the final for Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited.

"I am very disappointed because I was dropped last year as well and I came back through performing in domestic events, and then suddenly I found myself dropped again," Misbah said.

Besides Misbah, another experienced batsman Younis Khan, was also left out, due to fitness and disciplinary reasons. Misbah could be in the running for the one-day squad for the five-match series against England, which will be announced later.