PCB to honour Misbah, Younis, Afridi in September

Karachi [Pakistan], Aug 15 (ANI): The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been mulling to honour three former skippers--Misbah ul Haq, Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi-by hosting a ceremony in September. Confirming the same, PCB Chairman Najam Sethi said that the trio had served the country for a long period of time and, therefore, deserves appreciation. "We plan to arrange a special award ceremony for former captains Misbah ul Haq, Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi. They served Pakistan for a long period and deserve appreciation," the Dawn quoted Najam as saying. Sethi also revealed that the top players from the team would also be honoured at the ceremony. "We will honour and appreciate our top players and umpires in the same award ceremony to encourage them," he said. Misbah and Younis had called curtains to their illustrious international cricketing career following Pakistan 2-1 win over West Indies in the three-match series in May. Misbah played 75 Test matches, scoring 5,222 runs and is currently seventh on the list of Pakistan's highest Test run-getters. The 42-year-old also inspired Pakistan to the top of the ICC Test team rankings for the first time in history. Although their stint at the top was short-lived as India replaced them. Younis, on the other hand, became the first Pakistani batsman to score 10000 Test runs. Younis' career batting average of 52.05 is also the best by any Pakistani batsman and the third best by any batsman from Asia. Meanwhile, Afridi finished his international career in February, having played 27 Test matches in which he hit 1,176 runs with a highest score of 156 and 48 wickets. In the 398 ODIs that he played throughout his career, he notched up 8,064 runs, with a highest score of 124, and took 395 wickets with his leg spin.(ANI)