11 February 2005	Friday	01 Muharram 1426

LAHORE, Feb 10: The Pakistan team for the important tour of India will be announced on Feb 18. The team is scheduled to leave for India on Feb 25 to play three Test and five ODIs.

The itinerary of the tour is likely to be announced this week. The announcement had been delayed after Pakistan expressed security concerns over playing a Test in Ahmedabad.

A Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesman said that the selected team would attend a short training camp in Lahore from Feb 19 to 23.

Commenting on a press statement of Shoaib Akhtar that he was in a quandary without the services of a professional trainer, the spokesman said that the board's coordinator for the medical commission was in constant touch with players facing fitness problems.

The Pakistan team coach Bob Woolmer, trainer Grant Compton, biokineticist Murray Stevenson and physiotherapist Darryn Lifson, have left for their home countries and according to the spokesman they would be back by Feb 18, a day, before the start of the training camp.

The injury-prone Shoaib had to return back during the Australian tour due to hamstring.

"The PCB has already constituted a medical commission for the assessment of injuries sustained by players. Eminent medical specialists are available to any player requiring assistance," he said.