LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has asked discarded experienced all-rounders Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Malik to play domestic cricket in the upcoming Quaid-i-Azam Trophy starting next month to prove their form and fitness.

While the two all-rounders may return to the national fold only for the ODI series against South Africa and Sri Lanka, out-of-favour wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal even failed to get a place in the list of 50 probables initially prepared by selectors for the two series.

The series against South Africa and Sri Lanka are scheduled to be held at the neutral venues of the UAE with the South Africa series starting from Oct 14.

It is instructive to note that the Test series against South Africa coincides with the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy due to which it is expected that both Razzaq and Malik will feature only in the ODI series against Proteas.

Sources told Dawn that no change would be made in the national T20 side as the squad was doing well and had moved up to second spot in the world rankings.

They also said that as both Razzaq and Malik were not generally regarded as frontline Test players, both had been advised to show their performance and fitness in the domestic cricket to return to the ODI team.

In this regard, both players also met the PCB caretaker chairman Najam Sethi to confirm their availability.

Razzaq and Malik’s possible recall to the national team is seen incredulous, particularly in the wake of Pakistan’s humiliating defeat at the hands of Zimbabwe in the second Test which the caretaker chairman shrugged off, saying that losing to Zimbabwe was “not an earthquake”.

Pakistan dropped from fourth to sixth place in ICC Test rankings, having lost to unranked Zimbabweans.

Furthermore, Sethi is struggling to get full powers as PCB chairman with the court only allowing him to look after day-to-day affairs of the board.

His keenness to get powers as PCB chairman could be gauged from the fact that the caretaker chairman has recently been busy meeting former presidents of different regional cricket associations in connection with elections in their respective zones.

It is also important to note that Nadeem Suddle, whose successful petition had removed then PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf, was also present at the PCB offices on the day the caretaker chairman met former presidents of the regional associations.

As for Kamran Akmal’s failure to make it to the list of 50 probables, it is baffling because his performance remained far better than both Malik and Razzaq.