June 23, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-us-Sani 18, 1429

KARACHI, June 22: While Shahid Afridi was picked after suffering a wrist injury, off-spinner Saeed Ajmal was one of two uncapped players inducted on Sunday when the national selectors finally unveiled the Pakistan squad for the ninth Asia Cup cricket tournament that begins in Karachi and Lahore from Tuesday.

Saeed, the 30-year-old from Faisalabad, and Sialkot’s leg-spinning all-rounder Mansoor Amjad, who took three wickets in an over on his Twenty20 International against Bangladesh here in April, were named in the 15-man squad.

Rookie fast bowler Sohail Khan was not considered after he contracted malaria on Saturday. His absence leaves Pakistan with just four pacemen in Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir, Rao Iftikhar and the relatively inexperienced Wahab Riaz.

Experienced Afridi was selected after suffering a wrist injury on Saturday. Chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed claimed that the hard-hitting batsman was fit for the tournament.

From the 16-member squad that went to Bangladesh for the tri-series, which was won by Pakistan, out-of-form wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal, Sohail Khan and batsmen Bazid Khan and Naumanullah have been replaced by Sarfraz Ahmed, Saeed and Mansoor.

While announcing the squad, the chief selector said that Saeed was selected after a consensus was developed with Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik and coach Geoff Lawson.

“The reason of including Saeed for such an important event is because he is a pure wicket-taking bowler unlike the rest of the slow bowlers in the squad. For many people he is an unknown name, but in domestic cricket he has been a consistent performer for Faisalabad and Khan Research Laboratories. Last season he claimed 50 wickets,” Salahuddin said.

He noted the selection of Saeed would be debated in the cricketing circles, but the selectors were willing to take risk considering the importance of the tournament.

“Last year the selectors were unfairly criticised for picking Misbah-ul-Haq for the (inaugural) World Twenty20 Championship (in South Africa) and leaving behind a batsman of Mohammad Yousuf’s calibre. Misbah vindicated our faith in his ability by becoming one of the heroes of the tournament,” the official pointed out. “Misbah was 33 when we decided to recall him last year, but look how he had been playing since then.”

The chief selector said inclusion of Saeed in the squad was based on the strengths of teams like India and Sri Lanka.

“Being an off-spinner gives Saeed an advantage because there are number of left-handed batsmen in both these teams. We all felt a bowler like Saeed was needed to overcome this shortcoming,” he explained.

The selectors’ chief, who was flanked by fellow selectors Saleem Jaffer and Shafqat Rana at the media briefing, further said that both Bazid and Naumanullah would be considered for future events.

“We want to make it clear that Bazid and Nauman have been left out for this event because their requirements were limited. But we definitely give them proper opportunities in the future series. This is not the end of their international careers,” he stressed.

The chairman of selectors said the playing XI for the opening Group ‘B’ fixture against minnows Hong Kong would be decided on Monday.

Squad: Shoaib Malik (captain), Misbah-ul-Haq (vice-captain), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Shahid Afridi, Sarfraz Ahmed (wicket-keeper), Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar, Fawad Alam, Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal, Mansoor Amjad.