January 29, 2008	Tuesday	Muharram 19, 1429

KARACHI, Jan 28: With the One-day International series against Zimbabwe already decided after Pakistan took an unbeatable 3-0 lead by winning the third match in Multan by 37 runs on Sunday, the national selectors, as expected, opted to ring changes in the squad for Wednesday’s fourth ODI in Faisalabad.

The selection committee, headed by Salahuddin Ahmed, named a 14-member squad on Monday.

Opener Salman Butt has been left out in favour of uncapped Khurram Manzoor after making just 44 runs in the first three matches.

Khurram, who has been in good form this season, will compete with Khalid Latif for the opening slot to partner Nasir Jamshed on Wednesday.

As widely tipped, wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal is rested to allow his young understudy Sarfraz Ahmed to polish his skills. Sarfraz, who made a promising debut in the final ODI against India last November, was sent to the specialist wicket-keeping camp, set up in Lahore, after being a part of the squad for the first two matches.

Among other changes, pacemen Rao Iftikhar, who looked out of sorts in the first two games, is being replaced by uncapped left-arm seamer Wahab Riaz while all-rounder Yasir Arafat has also been sidelined.

The selectors may contemplate making wholesale changes to the playing XI for the fourth match and rest some of the seasoned campaigners in order to also try out Fawad Alam, the young left-handed all-rounder who is yet to get a game despite being in the squad from the start of the series.

Squad: Shoaib Malik (captain), Nasir Jamshed, Khalid Latif, Khurram Manzoor, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Fawad Alam, Sarfraz Ahmed (wicket-keeper), Sohail Tanvir, Kamran Hussain, Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz.