October 06, 2007	Saturday	Ramazan 23, 1428

KARACHI, Oct 5: Former skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq was on Friday named in an expanded 16-man Pakistan squad for next week’s second Test against South Africa.

Unveiling the squad at press conference, chairman of selectors Salahuddin Ahmed said the final Test at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, beginning on Monday, will be Inzamam’s last after the 37-year-old batsman announced his retirement from Test cricket.

“Inzamam has been one of the finest batsmen produced by Pakistan. After he made himself available we decided to include him in the squad as an additional player,” Salahuddin said. “There is no change in the Karachi Test squad and we added Inzamam as the 16th man.”

He hoped Inzamam would conclude his great career on a high.

“He deserves to end his Pakistan career in a befitting manner because players like Inzamam don’t emerge overnight. The selectors wish all the best for what is going to be a memorable occasion.”

The chief selector remained optimistic that Pakistan would bounce back in Lahore to square the series.

“There were a lot of positives for Pakistan in the Karachi Test. Shoaib Malik performed like a tiger in his first Test as captain. I guess luck was not with his team. But the way Shoaib led the side augurs well for the future,” he said.

“Abdul Rehman also deserves appreciation for taking eight wickets on debut. We hope Pakistan would come back strongly in Lahore with Inzamam and Mohammad Yousuf strengthening the batting.”

Yousuf skipped the first Test at the eleventh hour while citing that he lacked match practice and fitness.

Meanwhile, Salahuddin lauded Graeme Smith’s team performance and said Pakistan can learn a lot from the tourists.

“It was a historic win for South Africa in every sense. Mark Boucher going past Ian Healy to claim the wicket-keeping world record; Jacques Kallis striking century in each innings was a big bonus since he was the real difference between the two sides. Overall, they made the best use of the conditions,” he noted.

The chief selector defended the National Stadium pitch and said at least it was result-oriented.“I think it is unfair to blame the curator for preparing such a track. The batsmen who applied themselves got runs and the bowlers also got the help. Had Pakistan held their catches in the first innings, it might have been a different story.”

Squad: Shoaib Malik (captain), Salman Butt, Mohammad Hafeez, Taufiq Umar, Yasir Hameed, Younis Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Faisal Iqbal, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Asif, Umar Gul, Danish Kaneria, Abdul Rehman, Rao Iftikhar.