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| November 02, 2006 | Thursday | Shawwal 9, 1427 |
Asim Kamal to lead Patron’s XI
KARACHI, Nov 1: Test reject Asim Kamal was on Wednesday named to lead Patron’s XI in an unscheduled two-day fixture against the West Indies at Lahore’s Bagh-i-Jinnah from Nov 8.
After Pakistan failed to reach the semi-finals of the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy in India, the national selectors are keen to try out some other players before they finalized squad for the home series.
Wasim Bari, the chairman of selectors, had already hinted possible Test recalls for both Asim and Yasir Hameed, who has also been included in the Patron’s XI squad.
Asim, despite proving his durability at Test level, was overlooked for the tours of Sri Lanka and England this year after having played the last of his 12 Tests against England at Lahore 11 months ago.
Yasir, whose 17-Test career ended abruptly after the series in the West Indies in June 2005, was surprisingly sidelined after making 57 in the final One-day International against England at Rawalpindi last December.
As expected fast bowler Mohammad Sami is given another chance to resurrect an otherwise disappointing international career. He was dropped following a poor Test series in the English summer but is now expected to make the national squad in wake of both Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif being banned from international cricket on Wednesday for taking steroids.
Test opener Salman Butt has also been recalled after indifferent form caused his ouster during the England tour.
Upcoming wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed, captain of the Under-19 World Cup-winning squad, is a surprise inclusion as is his under-19 pace bowling colleague Akhtar Ayub.
The West Indies, who play three Tests and five One-day Internationals in Pakistan, are scheduled to arrive in Lahore on Monday.
Squad: Asim Kamal (captain), Salman Butt, Yasir Hameed, Bazid Khan, Shahid Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Sarfraz Ahmed (wicket-keeper), Abdur Rehman, Mohammad Sami, Akhtar Ayub, Najaf Shah, Shahid Nazir, Tahir Khan.
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