September 11, 2007	Tuesday	Sha'aban 28, 1428

LAHORE, Sept 10: Batsmen Hasan Raza, Adnan Raza and Rizwan Ahmed were named in the 15-member Pakistan ‘A’ squad on Monday for the first four-day game against Australia A, to be played at Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad from Wednesday.

The national selectors, while naming a strong outfit, decided to give rest to batsman Shahid Yousuf, medium-pacer Junaid Zia and off-spinner Tahir Khan for the match. All three were part of the ‘A’ team which completed a whitewash of the Kangaroos in the three-match one-day series.

Hasan, who had earlier criticised his omission from the one-day series, announced his availability for the two-match series.

“We did not select Hasan for the one-day series but his fine domestic performance in the longer-version of the game paved the way for his selection in the team,” chief selector Salahuddin told Dawn.

He said he had no information about Hasan’s criticism in the past over his exit from the One-day team. “Hasan gave his availability to the selectors and got a place in the side,” he said.

Hasan is currently leading Karachi Urban in the Nissar Trophy match against Mumbai. He will join the team on Tuesday night.

Asim Kamal, who was included in the preliminary list of 27 probables but did not report to the training camp for the one-day series, again failed to get the nod of selectors. Similarly, medium pacer Mohammad Sami, who also showed reluctance for the one-day series due to groin problems, also failed to find a place.

“Sami has to prove his match-fitness since he has been suffering from groin problems. He has to go through a proper medical test,” the chief selector said.

Salahuddin also praised the efforts of ‘A’ team for winning the one-day series. He was all praise for opener Yasir Hameed, Khalid Lateef, Taufiq Umar, Faisal Iqbal and Mansoor Amjad for playing key roles in 3-0 victory.

Meanwhile, both the teams reached Faisalabad on Monday where rainy weather greeted them.

Squad: Faisal Iqbal (captain), Taufiq Umar, Hasan Raza, Khalid Latif, Yasir Hameed, Naved Latif, Adnan Raza, Sarfraz Ahmed (wicket-keeper), Mansoor Amjad, Atif Maqbool, Mohammad Khalil, Abdur Rauf, Mohammad Irshad, Najaf Shah, Rizwan Ahmed.