Pakistan's upcoming star Misbah ul Haq got the axe from the national team in all three formats of the game against New Zealand to be played in the Gulf.
Misbah's international revival seems to have come to an end, as he has been left out from ODIs, T20Is and Tests against New Zealand.
Misbah's form has been poor in all three formats over the last year, in contrast to 2007, when he reignited his career in sensational fashion at the World Twenty20 in South Africa and then on a tour to India.
The emergence of Umar Akmal as a middle order prospect has, for now at least, brought Misbah's second innings to a close.
Chief selector Iqbal Qasim hoped Misbah would regain form before the tour to Australia later this year. "He has been given rest because we think he is under pressure and needs time to regroup himself," Qasim said.
Openrs Imran Farhat and Salman Butt return to the national team. Farhat ends a two-year exile after his stint in the Indian Cricket League by being picked in all three squads.
Pakistan's last few squads have lacked specialist openers; at the Champions Trophy, only Imran Nazir was a specialist in the position.
Seven players - the Akmal brothers, Saeed Ajmal, Farhat, Shoaib Malik, Umar Gul and Mohammad Aamer - find a place in all three squads. Younis Khan, after resigning and coming back in the last week as captain, will lead the Test and ODI side, and Shahid Afridi remains the Twenty20 captain.
Pakistan play three one-dayers in Abu Dhabi starting November 3, followed by two Twenty20s in Dubai before heading off to New Zealand for a three-Test series. Following that, they move to Australia where they have another three-Test series and a series of five ODIs as well as a T20I.
Squads
Tests: Salman Butt, Khurrum Manzoor, Imran Farhat, Younis Khan (capt), Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, Fawad Alam, Faisal Iqbal, Kamran Akmal (wk), Danish Kaneria, Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer, Abdur Rauf, Umar Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmad
One-dayers: Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Khalid Latif, Younis Khan (capt), Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal (wk), Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Wahab Riaz
Twenty20: Khalid Latif, Imran Nazir, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi (capt), Kamran Akmal (wk), Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Saeed Ajmal, Imran Farhat, Fawad Alam, Sohail Tanvir .
