35 year-old vows to replace Misbah, Younis

KARACHI: Faisal Iqbal has thrown his name among the mix as he hopes to make a long awaited comeback in Test squad following the retirement of Misbahul Haq and Younis Khan.

The retirement of Test legends Younis and Misbah after the West Indies series has left a gaping hole in the Pakistan middle order, with several names being touted to fill the void.

Karachi’s middle-order batsman Faisal Iqbal is among the mix despite not donning the whites since January 2010.

The 35-year-old still feels he has some years left in him and revealed that he has been working to stay fit.

“I have been working on my fitness and my skills. I know I am fit enough to be in the national team and will be considered if I perform in the upcoming domestic season,” Iqbal told The Express Tribune.

“Two experienced players have left the team and a space in the middle-order is open. I am a middle-order batsman and that is where I have been performing well there for some years now.”

It is pertinent to mention here that, Iqbal scored 493 runs in the last Quaid-e-Azam trophy in seven matches. His runs came at a decent but unspectacular average of 37.92 and strike-rate of 52.55 — scoring one century and three half-centuries in 14 innings.