September 28, 2007	Friday	Ramazan 15, 1428

KARACHI, Sept 27: After making a dream comeback to international cricket at the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa, Misbah-ul-Haq is set to resurrect his five-match Test career after a gap of four years.

The national selectors meet on Friday afternoon to finalise the Pakistan squad for Monday’s opening match of the two-Test series against South Africa here at the National Stadium.

Pakistan received a major boost on Thursday when Mohammad Yousuf turned his back on the controversial Indian Cricket League (ICL) by finally signing the central contract with the PCB.

With Yousuf, who last year scored a record 1788 Test runs in a calendar year, now available and a certainty for the Karachi Test, the selectors are certain to reward Misbah with a chance to fill the middle-order slot left vacant by Inzamam-ul-Haq. Misbah (218 runs) was the third highest scorer in the World Twenty20 behind Matthew Hayden (265) of Australia and Gautam Gambhir (227) of India.

The selectors, however, have left their options open before naming the 15-man squad.

Also tipped to make a comeback is left-handed opener Taufiq Umar, who last played against England at Headingley in 2006, but who has enjoyed success against South Africa (593 runs in four Tests at 74.14).

Taufiq’s inclusion means the axe may fall on Mohammad Hafeez. The opener scored just 99 in the three Tests against the Proteas earlier this year in South Africa but made 104 in the last Test innings on home soil against the West Indies at Karachi late last year.

Sohail Tanvir, the unexpected success of the World Twenty20, is being seriously considered because of his ability to unsettle the batsmen as a left-arm paceman with his unorthodox action.

Likely squad: Shoaib Malik (captain), Salman Butt, Mohammad Hafeez, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal (wicket-keeper), Abdul Rehman, Umar Gul, Danish Kaneria, Mohammad Asif, Sohail Tanvir, Rao Iftikhar, Taufiq Umar, Anwar Ali Khan.