18 October 2004	Monday	03 Ramazan 1425

KARACHI, Oct 17: Moin Khan, the embattled Pakistan wicket-keeper, is facing a challenge to retain his Test spot after the national selectors included rookie Zulqarnain Haider in the 15-man squad , which was officially named on Sunday for the two-Test series against Sri Lanka.

Zulqarnain, 18, was a member of the Pakistan team that won the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh earlier this year. Nineteen-year-old medium-pacer Riaz Afridi, who played a pivotal role in the junior World Cup victory, also wins a place in the senior squad for the first time.

The selectors have, in addition, recalled left-handed batsmen Imran Farhat and Asim Kamal and leg-spinner Danish Kaneria.

Making way for the five are all-rounder Shahid Afridi, fast bowler Rao Iftikhar, and batsmen Salman Butt, Bazid Khan and Misbahul Haq, all of whom featured in the recently-concluded one-day tri-series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

Talking to Dawn, from Lahore, Wasim Bari, the chairman of selectors, denied the impression that Moin was under any pressure despite his poor form both with the gloves and the bat.

"The basic idea to introduce Zulqarnain and Riaz is to ensure that these young players get the big match feeling by being attached with the senior squad. If luck permits, we may try them in the Sri Lanka series.

"At the same time, I would like to clarify that Moin is still our first-choice wicket-keeper. However, we feel that it's time to start grooming a youngster keeping in mind that Pakistan have long tours coming up after the Sri Lankan series."

Since scoring 72 in the final match of the one-day series against India at Lahore in March, Moin has been going through a lean period with the bat, with a highest of just 27 not out in 11 ODI innings.

The 33-year-old missed a couple of matches in the triangular tournament as he was said to be suffering from a viral infection, which forced the selectors to send for Kamran Akmal, who was rushed to Peshawar but was not picked by the team management which favoured in-and-out batsman Younis Khan taking over wicket-keeping.

Bari defended the decision to promote Yasir Hameed to open the innings in the forthcoming Tests along side Imran Farhat. "These two players had developed into a successful opening duo in the one-dayers. Now we feel that Yasir is good enough to perform with the same level of consistency at the Test level. As we had indicated earlier, Asim Kamal will definitely bat at No 3 with the elevation of Yasir from that spot."

On the inclusion of Imran Farhat, Bari remarked that the left-hander had scored a match-winning century in the second Test against India at Lahore last April.

When asked why Taufiq Umar, who has done exceedingly well as a genuine Test opener since 2001, was not considered for recall, the chief selector admitted that the 23-year-old had not been in the runs to merit a recall at this stage.

"Taufiq is not being ruled out permanently. It's just that he is out of practice at the moment. We have advised him to play in the ongoing Quaid-i-Azam Trophy. If he performs in these matches he will have runs to back his credentials," Bari explained.

Taufiq in his 22 Tests has scored 1610 runs at a healthy 42.36 with three centuries. A fine close-in fielder, he has held 32 catches. Taufiq had a dream series against South Africa a year ago. Scores of 111 and 63 at Lahore, followed by 68 and 71 earned him the Man-of-the-Series award. In both Tests, he shared the Man-of-the-Match prize with Kaneria and Gary Kirsten respectively.

Bari, meanwhile, expressed his disappointment over Pakistan's 119-run defeat in the tri-series final on Saturday night. "Of course, it was a heart-breaking moment for all of us. But Sri Lanka deserved to win simply because they outplayed Pakistan in every department of the game. They remained focus throughout the match."

Squad: Inzamamul Haq (captain), Yousuf Youhana (vice-captain), Yasir Hameed, Imran Farhat, Asim Kamal, Younis Khan, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Malik, Moin Khan, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Riaz Afridi, Danish Kaneria, Zulqarnain Haider, Rana Naveedul Hasan.