Pakistan on Tuesday named all-rounder Shahid Afridi [ Images ] captain for next month's Asia Cup and the subsequent full tour of England [ Images ], opting for a single skipper for all three formats of the game.

"Afridi will lead Pakistan in One-day and Test cricket and is our best choice," Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ejaz Butt told reporters here.

Former captains Younis Khan [ Images ] and Shoaib Malik [ Images ] were also included in a 35-man list of probables, which will be culled down before the two events, pending a decision on the bans imposed on them by the PCB. Controversial fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar [ Images ] was also included among the probables.

The 30-year-old Afridi, who led Pakistan to the semi-finals in the Twenty20 [ Images ] World Cup earlier this month, now becomes the 27th man to lead Pakistan in Test cricket.

"It is a great challenge to lead the team in all forms of the game. I will try to do my best and take all the players as a unit and build towards winning the World Cup," said Afridi, who last played a Test match in mid 2006.

With Afridi's appointment, Pakistan's leadership crisis, which began during last November's New Zealand [ Images ] tour, has finally come to an end.

Pakistan will play in the four-nation Asia Cup in Sri Lanka [ Images ] from June 15-25 and then head for the tour of England.

Pakistan will play four Tests, five One-day and two Twenty20 Internationals against England during the two-and-a-half-month-long tour that finishes in late September.

The 15-man squad for the Asia Cup will be announced early next month after a short training camp in Karachi. The squad for England will be decided after that.

Probables: Shahid Afridi (capt), Salman Butt [ Images ], Imran Farhat [ Images ], Yasir Hameed [ Images ], Khurram Manzoor, Shahzaib Hassan, Azhar Ali, Azeem Ghumman, Younus Khan, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal [ Images ], Faisal Iqbal [ Images ], Fawad Alam [ Images ], Hassan Raza, Asad Shafiq, Umar Amin, Aamer Sajjad, Mohammad Hafeez [ Images ], Abdul Razzaq [ Images ], Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif [ Images ], Mohammad Aamer [ Images ], Mohammad Sami [ Images ], Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Irfan, Tanvir Ahmed, Aizaz Cheema, Danish Kaneria, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal [ Images ], Zulfiqar Babar, Kamran Akmal (wk), Zulqarnain Haider (wk).