July 10, 2008	Thursday	Rajab 6, 1429

LAHORE, July 9: The national cricket selectors have decided to include the pace trio of Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul in the list of probables for September’s ICC Champions Trophy.

“Giving utmost respect to the decision of the Lahore High Court, we have included Shoaib Akhtar’s name in the list of 30 probables for the ICC Champions Trophy along with Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul,” chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed told Dawn on Wednesday.

“But while Shoaib and Umar have to prove their fitness, Asif’s selection will largely depend on the report of PCB’s fact-finding committee,” said the chief selector. The PCB committee, formed to probe the lanky pacer’s detention saga in the UAE last month for carrying a banned substance, is yet commence their inquiry.

Umar, who had sustained a rib injury during the ninth Asia Cup at Karachi, is currently going through rehabilitation process.

Salahuddin added that the list of thirty probables will be handed over to the PCB on Thursday for forward submission to the ICC. Though the Champions Trophy, to be held in September this year, has been awarded to Pakistan, it is under a cloud of uncertainty because of the reluctance of Aus-tralian, England and New Zealand players to play in Pakistan due to security concerns.

Salahuddin further said that all the players will have to play domestic matches to prove their fitness for the Champions Trophy. “Fitness is our top priority and we will not comprise on that,” the chief selector asserted.

However, the only domestic tournament currently in progress is the inter-district cricket, the final of which will be held on July 21. No other domestic competition has been finalised for the coming weeks and therefore, the players are unlikely to fulfil the requirement of proving their fitness for the Champions Trophy at least until August.

Meanwhile, the chances of Shoaib, Asif and Umar making the Canada-bound squad for a Twenty20 event appear fairly grim. Salahuddin said the names of the Pakistan team for Canada event, scheduled for mid-August would be selected in next couple of days.

“The selectors have completed discussion on the availability of the players for the Canada event and it will take a few days to finalise the 15-member squad,” he said.

It is likely that all the players who played in the recently-concluded Asia Cup will be named in the list of 30 probables. Wicketkeeper/batsman Kamran Akmal, who was not selected for the Asia Cup, is also among the probables.

Apart from Pakistan, the Toronto T20 event will have West Indies, Bangladesh and Canada as the participating teams but a board official admitted that it was still not final due to some sponsorship issues.