September 23, 2007	Sunday	Ramazan 10, 1428

LAHORE, Sept 22: Test discard Taufiq Umar will lead the Patron’s XI in the three-day match against South Africa which commences at the NBP Sports Complex, Karachi, from Sept 27.

This was announced by Chief Selector Salahuddin Ahmad soon after Pakistan ‘A’ drew the second four-day match against Australia ‘A’ at the Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday. The 15-member squad for Patron’s XI includes middle-order Test batsman Asim Kamal, who could not participate in the Pakistan ‘A’ training camp for the home series with Australia ‘A’ last month since he was away for Umrah at the time.

“We called up Asim after he confirmed his availability for the match to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB),” said the chief selector.

All-rounder Yasir Arafat and Fawad Alam, who are currently in South Africa for the Twenty-20 World Cup, have also been included in the squad. Three players, who performed well while playing for the national under-19 team in England, namely Ahmed Shahzad, Umar Amin and Uzair-ul-Haq, have also been included.

Yasir Hameed and Faisal Iqbal, who were part of the Pakistan ‘A’ team in the recently concluded series, are not in the squad but it was hinted by Sallu that they may be named in the preliminary squad for the Test series against South Africa.

The Protease are scheduled to arrive in Karachi on Sept 25 to play two Tests and five One-day Internationals.

Patron’s XI squad: Taufiq Umar (Captain), Asim Kamal, Fawad Alam, Yasir Arafat, Baber Naeem, Shahid Yousaf, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Rizwan Ahmed, Adnan Raza, Junaid Zia, Anwar Ali, Khurram Manzoor, Ahmed Shahzad, Umar Amin and Uzair-ul-Haq.