August 17, 2003	Sunday	Jumadi-us-Sani 18, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

LAHORE, Aug 16: Seasoned campaigner Inzamam-ul-Haq, as widely tipped, was recalled for the opening Test against Bangladesh, but surprisingly all-rounder Abdul Razzaq was left out of 15-member squad, announced on Saturday.

National selectors have included three players for the first time in the senior team. They are batsmen Saeed bin Nasir and Farhan Adil and a relatively unknown Mohammad Khalil, a left-arm fast-medium bowler.

Apart from Razzaq, others who attended the national camp at the Gaddafi Stadium but also overlooked were batsman Hasan Raza, who did so well against world champions Australia in the final Test at Sharjah last year, left-arm medium pacer Najaf Shah and slow left-armer Abdul Sattar.

Inzamam after a dismal World Cup in southern Africa now gets the chance to prove that he is still a great batsman.

Chairman of selectors Aamir Sohail while giving reasons of Razzaq’s omission, said that there’s still a lot of cricket left in the young all-rounder.

“Razzaq’s exclusion does not mean his cricket is over as has been sidelined because the team needs a left-arm pacer against Bangladesh and Khalil is the better choice.”

Asked why Najaf, the other left-arm paceman, was not

considered, Aamir said Khalil was a far better prospect and compared to Najaf was more fitter.

The chief selector remarked that since the team had was abundance in pacers with the likes of Shoaib Akthar, Umar Gul and Shabbir Ahmad around, it was agreed unanimously to include a left-armer in the pace attack.

Aamir disagreed that Razzaq had been confined to one-day cricket and added his exclusion was temporary and he could be considered for other matches.

Commenting on the inclusion of talented Karachi batsman Saeed bin Nasir, the chief selector said that the youngster scored 402 runs in six matches last season while averaging above 50.

When asked why Saeed was called up for the camp at the eleventh hour, Aamir said the decision was taken after wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal expressed his non-availability.

Sohail furthermore said that Farhan also scored 227 runs in five domestic matches at an average of 56.

However, the  chief selector failed to  mention  any  notable recent performance of Khalil and stressed the bowler was included only for the sake of variety.

He  said that Misbah-ul-Haq was included in place  of Younis  Khan who was unavailable for the first two Tests for family reasons.

To  a  question that the quick changes in the  team  by  this selection committee had created a big pool of players and several players were not given proper opportunities,  the  chief selector said: “It is our headache and we know how to deal with the situation. I want to create a big pool to have three players for each position.”

Squad: Mohammad Hafeez, Taufiq Umar, Yasir Hameed, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana  (vice-captain), Misbah-ul-Haq, Rashid Latif (captain), Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Shabbir  Ahmed, Danish Kaneria, Saeed bin Nasir, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Khalil, Farhan Adil.