Moin Khan dropped

Moin Khan will not play in the second Test starting this week © Getty Images

Moin Khan, Pakistan's veteran wicketkeeper-batsman, has been dropped for the second Test against Sri Lanka that starts this Thursday at Karachi.

Wasim Bari, Pakistan's chief selector said: "Moin has been dropped. We have called up Kamran Akmal for the second Test on the request of the team management. Moin has been struggling for batting form." Bari also indicated that former captain Rashid Latif is under consideration for a recall to the team.

Moin, who has represented his country in 69 Test and 219 one-day internationals, has failed to score an international fifty since March. He managed just six runs in the defeat to Sri Lanka in the first Test, where the top-order batting also failed. Akmal, 22, made his Test debut on the 2002-03 tour of Zimbabwe.

Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan's captain, had indicated yesterday that a change in wicketkeepers would occur for the second Test: "We gave him [Moin] a chance in 15 to 20 one-day matches and now in this [first] Test he has also not done well so we will try someone new in the next match."

In the recently concluded Paktel Cup, Younis Khan acted as a reverse wicketkeeper, and in his first match with the gloves he did not concede a bye and he was awarded Man of the Match for a well-crafted fifty. This effort prompted Bob Woolmer, Pakistan's coach, to suggest Younis could do the job long-term in one-dayer matches.

A third wicketkeeper, Zulqarnain Haider, 18, retains his squad place from the first Test but is unlikely to debut. The Pakistan bowling attack will miss Mohammad Sami, who has a groin strain. His absence will allow either Rana Naveed or Riaz Afridi to play.