September 07, 2006	Thursday	Sha'aban 13, 1427

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KARACHI, Sept 6: Pakistan cricket selectors sprang no surprises on Wednesday while announcing a 14-member squad for next month’s ICC Champions Trophy in India.

As expected, skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq keeps his place despite speculations that a possible ICC ban in the aftermath of the Oval Test fiasco could sideline him from the event.

The ICC has charged Inzamam under Code of Conduct Level-III on two counts — alleged ball tampering and for bringing the game into disrepute — and could penalise the Pakistan captain with either a four-Test or eight-ODI ban at the disciplinary hearing scheduled for the last week of September.

From the squad currently leading 2-0 in the one-day series against England, the selectors have omitted leg-spinner Danish Kaneria and uncapped batsman Shahid Yousuf for the Oct/Nov tournament.

While most of the squad virtually picked themselves, there was a question mark over the selection of Rao Iftikhar, who has not played in the ongoing one-day series.

The 25-year-old was in the original party for the England tour but came home in latter half of July following death of his father. The selectors have decided to retain Rao Iftikhar as one of the six pacers in the team.

Pakistan, who are placed in Group ‘B’ along with South Africa, New Zealand and one team qualifying from a preliminary round, open their campaign in the biennial competition against one of the qualifiers at Jaipur on Oct 17.

Pakistan then face New Zealand eight days later at Mohali before taking on South Africa at the same venue on Oct 27.

Defending champions West Indies and the 2002 joint champions Sri Lanka are fancied to qualify for the 2006 Champions Trophy since they meet lowly-rated Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in the six-match preliminary round which runs from Oct 7 to 14.

Group ‘A’ features Australia, England, hosts India and the other qualifier.

First semi-final takes place in Mohali on Nov 1, followed by second the following day at Jaipur, while the final is slated for Nov 5 at Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium.

Pakistan squad: Inzamam-ul-Haq (captain), Younis Khan (vice-captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Yousuf, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal (wicket-keeper), Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif, Imran Farhat, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar.