National camp commences in Lahore today: Twenty-two cricketers to attend
By Mohammad Yaqoob
LAHORE, July 9: The Gaddafi Stadium will be the centre of cricket activities on Tuesday when the second phase of the national training camp, to be attended by 22 players, commences here. The camp will continue till July 23.
The camp which was originally to be held in Quetta was shifted to Lahore due to heavy rains and flood situation which has hit almost the entire area of Balochistan province. The camp will be held in the morning and evening sessions.
A PCB spokesman said that the players would be divided into two groups. One group will do physical training and the other will have net practice and the same programme will be followed by the two groups every day.
While the main focus of the camp will on preparation for the home series against South Africa which commences on Sept 26, three Twenty20 matches will be held during the last days to hone the skill for the forthcoming inaugural Twenty20 World Cup to be held in South Africa in September.
Meanwhile, off the field the national selection committee will be meeting to finalise 30 players for the Twenty20 World Cup. It is likely that the players will be finalised on Tuesday.
The PCB Chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf will also be attending his office after a gap of 15-days on Tuesday (today). Dr Nasim was recently in England to attend the ICC meetings and watch the Pakistan ODIs but the matches were abandoned due to heavy rains.
Probables:
Salman Butt, Imran Nazir, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Mohammad Yousuf, Yasir Hameed, Misbah-ul-Haq, Naved Latif, Faisal Iqbal, Asim Kamal, Fawad Alam, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Asif, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Umar Gul, Iftikhar Anjum, Najaf Shah, Abdur Rehman.
Officials:
Talat Ali (camp commandant). Haroon Rasheed (batting coach), Aaqib Javed (bowling coach), Mohtashim Rasheed (fielding coach), Dr. Riaz Ahmed (trainer), Faisal Hayat (physio), Usman Hashmi (analyst).