October 29, 2007	Monday	Shawwal 16, 1428

LAHORE, Oct 28: The return of controversial speedster Shoaib Akhtar will be a huge attraction in the fifth and final One-day International on Monday as Shoaib Malik’s Pakistan take on South Africa in the series decider at the picturesque Gaddafi Stadium.

Shoaib, after completing a 13-match ban imposed by the PCB over various disciplinary charges, will take the field for his first international game in nearly ten months. He had last played a Test against South Africa at Port Elizabeth in January 2007 and his last ODI was way back in September 2006 during the England series.

Proteas captain Graeme Smith, however, dismissed all the hype created around Shoaib’s return as he addressed a pre-match press conference on Sunday. “Pressure will be on Shoaib Akhtar and not on us as he is coming back after a long time to play a key match,” said Smith.

“We are prepared for him as we knew he would be playing the fifth match. But in my opinion, testing him in this crunch game could well be a risk.”

Shoaib Malik, on the other hand, sounded confident about Shoaib’s comeback to international cricket and boosted the bowler’s morale when he said that he (Akhtar) was an asset for Pakistan and hopefully he would play an important role in today’s match.

While Shoaib Akhtar is a certainty for Monday’s game, two more changes are likely to be made in the team that lost the fourth ODI at Multan quite tamely. Shoaib is sure to replace an off-colour Mohammad Asif while reckless opening batsman Imran Nazir is likely to replace Yasir Hameed who failed to impress the selectors with his cautious approach in the two games.

There is also talk of bringing in young Sohail Tanvir, surprisingly in place of Umar Gul which could prove a false move in this crucial match.

Umar has taken five wickets in the four ODIs so far and is third behind Rao Iftikhar (9) and Shahid Afridi (6). Sohail bagged just two wickets in his last three matches and same is the case with left-arm spinner Abdul Rehman who has not been able to impress in his two outings so far, capturing 2 for 126 against the South Africans.

Commenting on the pitch, Smith called it under-prepared and felt that both spinners and the seamers were in with a chance on the wicket.

“The wicket is looking under-prepared, just like the Faisalabad and Multan strips, and both spinners and seamers will play their role. But we are well-prepared to counter any situation,” he added.

Malik, however, dispelled the impression that wickets were under-prepared during the series but admitted every host country had the right to take advantage, of the local conditions.

“Monday’s match is an important one, particularly in view of the forthcoming Indian tour, as a win here will boost our morale for the difficult assignment,” said Malik.

Commenting on the lacklustre show by his team in Multan, Malik said it was the dew factor which played a decisive role in the fourth ODI.

“Our players faced problems in fielding the ball and same was the case with bowlers who could not grip the wet cherry properly,” he said.

Teams:

Pakistan - Shoaib Malik (captain), Kamran Akmal, Imran Nazir, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Rehman, Sohail Tanvir, Shoaib Akhtar, Rao Iftikhar.

South Africa - Graeme Smith (captain), Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, A.B. de Villiers, J.P. Duminy, Mark Boucher, Shaun Pollock, Albie Morkel, Andre Nel, Johan Botha, Makhaya Ntini.