August 09, 2006	Wednesday	Rajab 13, 1427

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LAHORE, Aug 8: Pakistan’s talented young fast bowler Mohammad Asif who was scheduled to leave for London on Tuesday to reinforce the national cricket team before the The Oval Test, has surprisingly been held back by the Pakistan Cricket Board.

PCB’s director cricket operations, Saleem Altaf said in an announcement on Tuesday that the fast bowler will now only be available for the five-match One-day Internationals series against England.

Asif, who fully recovered from an elbow injury this week, was certain to join the struggling Pakistani cricketers for the final Test at The Oval which commences on Aug 17.

The plans for his departure, however, have now been altered.

“The tour selection committee comprising coach Bob Woolmer, captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and manager Zaheer Abbas informed the PCB on Tuesday that they now require Asif just for the ODIs,” explained Saleem.

The former Test cricketer, however, said that all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez would leave for England via Dubai as per schedule on Tuesday night.

The move is, indeed, surprising since it was Pakistan’s tour selection committee that had expressed its keenness to see Asif appear in the two-day side match against West Indies ‘A’ on Aug 12-13 to assess the pacer’s fitness for the fourth Test match.

However, a sudden change in that decision indicates that Asif is not being considered for the final Test now.

“The tour selection committee may have decided against calling Asif since Shoaib Akhtar has now been inducted into the squad while other pacers Shahid Nazir and Umar Gul have been bowling well,” Saleem opined.