LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has increased the number of players from 14 to 15 by inducting Asif Mehmood into Pakistan Under-19 squad announced for the tour of Kenya scheduled to be held from Dec 4 to 12.

All five one-dayers will be played at the Nairobi Gymkhana ground with first match being on Dec 6, second on Dec 7, third on Dec 9, fourth on Dec 12 and fifth and the final match will be played on Dec 12.

Earlier, the PCB announced a 14-member team but hours later the Board included Asif into the team which will be led by Saud Shakeel.

Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that some top performers have not been inducted into the U-19 squad with Noor Wali and Danish Aziz being prime examples.

Young batsman Noor remained top scorer at the last national Inter-region championship besides Danish with the former scoring 238 runs in the said contest while Danish was able to amass 238 runs.

However, instead of selecting Noor and Danish, Zeeshan Malik (179), Sajawal Riaz (93 runs from three matches) and Shahid Khan (185) have been inducted into the team.

On the other hand, top bowlers namely Mohammad Asghar who grabbed 17 wickets, Fahad Farooq (14 wickets) and Alam Khursheed Shah (12) failed to attract selectors.

Squad: Sajawal Riaz, Zeeshan Malik, Yousuf Babar, Imran Rafiq (vice-captain),Saud Shakeel (captain), Aqib Javed, Muhammad Shahid Khan, Kamran Afzal, Shahbaz Javed (wicket-keeper), Awais Iqbal, Mohammad Shahabul Khan, Saif Ali Ghauri, Ahmad Bashir, Mohammad Mubashir, Asif Mehmood.

Officials: Abdur Raquib( manager), Javed Hayat (head coach), Mohammad Javed (assistant coach and trainer), Adeel Bajwa (physio).

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2014