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| July 13, 2006 | Thursday | Jumadi-ul-Sani 16, 1427 |
Asif ruled out of first Test: Setback for Pakistan
LONDON, July 12: Pakistan lost a third paceman on the eve of the first Test against England starting at Lord's on Thursday when Mohammad Asif was ruled out with an elbow injury.
Asif, who took 17 wickets on the recent two-Test tour of Sri Lanka, joins Shoaib Akhtar (ankle injury) and Rana Navedul Hasan (groin) on the sidelines after a cortisone injection failed to ease the complaint.
“He hasn't reacted properly to an injection so he will be out,” coach Bob Woolmer told reporters.
Woolmer said opening batsmen Shoaib Malik, who also had a cortisone injection for a similar injury, was doubtful for the first match in the four-Test series.
England will wait until the last minute before deciding whether swing bowler Matthew Hoggard is fit after a freak injury last Saturday required six stitches in his bowling hand.
The hosts have already lost half of the pace attack who were instrumental in the Ashes win over Australia last year.
Simon Jones is out for the season with a knee operation and all-rounder Andy Flintoff will miss the first Test because of a heel problem. Their first reserve James Anderson is also out of action with a back injury.
England captain Andrew Strauss told a news conference on Wednesday the management team would give Hoggard as long as possible to recover from the injury sustained when a team mate trod on his hand during warm-up exercises.
“At this stage we are giving him as long as possible to prove his fitness,” Strauss said. “He had a useful workout in the nets today.”
If Hoggard's run of 32 consecutive Tests comes to an end England will field an attack in which only Steve Harmison, who is himself returning from injury after missing the Sri Lanka series with sore shins, will have more than 15 Test wickets.
Pakistan have moved ahead of England into second place in the world rankings after winning their last three series in a row, including a 2-0 victory over England late last year.
“The one thing about them in the winter was their unpredictability,” said Strauss.
“They can turn the match around in one session. We can't afford to relax, we have got to be on on top of our game at all times.
Inzamam told a news conference his team had the belief and confidence to beat England.
“The team is coming up,” he said. “We will be trying hard.
It is hot weather here which is good for us. These boys are very confident, the team is confident.”
The tourists ended England's prolonged post-Ashes celebrations with a 2-0 home victory late last year. Now they will test to the full England's resolve and character before the hosts travel to Australia for the Ashes defence this year.
Even taking injuries into account the feeling persists that England have under-achieved in their three series since defeating Australia with a lack of concentration and rigour allowing Sri Lanka to seize a 1-1 draw in the most recent encounter.
After winning the second Test, England lost seven matches in a row to the Sri Lankans and their bowling in the one-day series was an embarrassment with Harmison conceding 97 from his 10 overs in the final match.
Harmison is the only player with no intention of playing the injury card.
“We can make as many excuses as we want about injuries but I think it's time we put them to bed,” he said on Tuesday. “We need to stop making excuses.”
Jon Lewis, a similar type of bowler to Hoggard with his reliance on late outswing, is in the squad as a potential replacement while Ian Bell has been recalled to bat at number six in place of Flintoff.
Bell will share the fifth bowler's duties with Paul Collingwood.
Pakistan, who have not lost a series in England since 1982, also have injury problems.
There is still plenty of talent among the remaining Pakistani bowlers with leg-spinner Danish Kaneria relishing the chance to play in the latter part of the English season when the pitches are drier and offer most assistance to the spinners.
Pakistan's particular strength lies in their batting.
Inzamam averaged over a hundred in the last series with a lowest score of 53 and two centuries in the second Test while vice-captain Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf are consistent accumulators.
Shahid Afridi, who has rescinded a decision to play one-day cricket only, is a destructive batsman and wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal showed his pedigree with 154 in the final Test at Lahore last year.
Under the unruffled captaincy of Inzamam and shrewd guidance of Woolmer, Pakistan, a side who often prove less than the sum of their parts, appear united without losing their flair for the unexpected.
On current form they start favourites for the forthcoming series and as a bonus they have all the components necessary for success at the World Cup in the West Indies early next year.
Teams (from):
ENGLAND: Andrew Strauss (captain). Marcus Trescothick, Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell, Geraint Jones, Liam Plunkett, Matthew Hoggard, Steve Harmison, Sajid Mahmood, Monty Panesar.
PAKISTAN: Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Shoaib Malik, Faisal Iqbal, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Inzamamul Haq (captain), Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Sami, Umar Gul, Danish Kaneria, Samiullah Niazi.
Umpires: Steve Bucknor (West Indies) and Simon Taufel (Australia).
TV umpire: Peter Hartley (England).
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka).—Reuters
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