15 February 2005	Tuesday	05 Muharram 1426

LAHORE, Feb 14: The chances of pace man Shoaib Akhtar being selected in the team for the Indian tour brightened on Monday when the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) decided to change the date of the national selection committee from Friday to Saturday.

Shoaib's inclusion in the team was doubtful after he had refused to prove his fitness by playing a second round match of the Patron's Trophy, starting from Monday, due to hamstring.

As the foreign medical expert of the team is due to arrive on Friday after a short holiday and with Shoaib not appearing before PCB's medical commission, there was no way left to examine his fitness.

The PCB Chairman, Shaharyar M. Khan, said that now the four unfit pacemen, namely Shoaib, Mohammad Sami, Shabbir Ahmed and Mohammad Khalil, would appear before a joint medical team comprising board's medical commission and foreign expert on Saturday to get final fitness certificates.

Soon after the test, the reports will be handed over to the selection committee to select the team. The short training camp will surprisingly start on the same day. According to the PCB medical commission, which had examined Sami, Khalil and Shabbir, the first two are fit.

Shabbir needed three more weeks (from Feb 10) to recover and there is no chance of his availability for at least the three-Test series against India, starting from March 3. However, Shabbir could be considered for the ODIs.

Another hurdle in selecting Shoaib for the series was removed when Shaharyar said that his case of breaching the central contract had been handed over to the PCB disciplinary committee which would meet on Thursday and its report would be announced on Friday.

It is likely the disciplinary committee will impose a cash fine on Shoaib for breaching the code of conduct, thus allowing the selectors to consider him for the tour, since the pressure from former cricketers is mounting on the PCB for including Shoaib in the team.

Shaharyar said that ex-Test captains Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis had been invited to give tips to the Pakistani bowlers before the tour. Similarly, Saeed Anwar and Mushtaq Mohammad were invited to guide the batsmen.

He hinted that a bowling coach could be appointed for the team, but added the board had to consider the point of "conflict of interest" in appointing Wasim or Waqar on this post, since both are now respected cricket commentators.

He said that a new manager, only for the Indian series, would also be announced on Saturday. It is likely former Test great batsman Zaheer Abbas will fill the post.

Shaharyar said that the decision of sending Haroon Rashid, the current manager of the team, as assistant manager had not been made. Haroon's two-year contract expires in July this year.

Shaharyar added that the ICC President, Ehsan Mani, had reached India and he could play a role in finalising the itinerary of the Pakistan tour, which could not be announced because Pakistan are not willing to play a Test at Ahmedabad on security grounds.

Shaharyar pointed out that Mr Mani had played a positive role in materialising the Indian team's last visit to Pakistan, which was finalised only 18 days before the start of the tour after remaining under cloud for fear of security.

The ICC president had expressed his concern over the considerable delay in finalising the itinerary of the Pakistan's tour. Shaharyar dispelled the impression that the series could be cancelled if both the countries failed to reach a consensus over the issue of Ahmedabad.

He claimed that he was not unduly perturbed by the actions of Indian political party Shiv Sena's workers, of attempting to dig out the pitches of Mohali and Kanpur stadiums, saying such incidents had happened when the Pakistan team toured India last time.

AFP ADDS: Shoaib Akhtar is still facing fitness problems, chief selector Wasim Bari said on Monday. "Shoaib has informed me that he still carries a niggle and needs time to recover," Bari said.

"I have conveyed to him that Pakistan needs a fully fit Shoaib for the important India tour," he said. "We have requested the PCB to provide us a full fitness report on each player so that we can decide on the team when we meet," he said.

Bari said it was imperative for Shoaib to prove his fitness and not break down again. "It's his own decision not to play, it's for his own good that he attains full fitness through a match because his reputation as the spearhead is at stake," said the chief selector. Bari denied captain Inzamamul Haq or coach Bob Woolmer had given him any negative report on Shoaib.

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