LAHORE, Aug 5: After a lengthy absence star batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq was finally included on Tuesday in the list of 20 probables for an eight-day national training camp at Gaddafi Stadium from Saturday.

The selectors finalised the list for first two Tests of the home series against Bangladesh.

However, chief selector Aamir Sohail indicated that it was  not a final list as any other player, from those who are playing in England and touring South Africa with the Pakistan Academy team could also be considered.

“We have tried to persist with almost the same players  who have been in the team for the last four months. But that doesn’t mean that we will restrict ourselves to these 20 players only.

There are some other players, mainly the  Pakistan Academy ones, who are in our mind. If situation demands and there are some exceptional performances from Academy players they will certainly be considered for selection,” Aamir said.

This clearly points to a possible Test cap for controversial medium-pacer Junaid Zia, son of PCB chairman. Junaid left early Tuesday morning for South Africa with the Academy squad.

Inzamam was widely tipped for a recall after being sidelined since the World Cup in South Africa, where he mustered only 19 runs in six matches.

Aamir pointed out that Inzamam was never dropped after the World Cup but only rested. “People might say that we have recalled Inzamam. But we never dropped him and instead rested him so that he can regroup and recompose himself. The layoff must have surely increased his appetite for international cricket,”

Asked why the committee continues to follow the policy of  pick and drop without giving proper chances to players, Aamir said that “we want to give chances to more players in the home series”.

Faisal Athar, Bilal Asad, Naved Latif, Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan and Mohammad Zahid are some prominent names who missed out without getting proper exposure. Faisal, Bilal and, Naved Latif are in the Pakistan Academy squad.

Asked about the omission of opener Imran Nazir and all-rounder Azhar Mahmood, Aamir said that both could be  considered for the one-day series.

Asked if wicket-keeper/batsman Kamran Akmal will get a place in th team or he was only called from Ireland to attend the seven-day training camp, the chairman selection committee said that the player was willing to join the camp.

Kamran is currently playing in the Irish league for Leema  Vadi CC. If not selected, the player will suffer financially as he will be here on his own expenses after cancelling the contract.

About the surprise inclusion of left-arm pacer  Mohammad Khalil and left-arm spinner Abdul Sattar, Aamir remarked that Bangladesh appeared weak against left-arm bowling and therefore  they both had been inducted.

“We have included two rookie bowlers — Khalil and Sattar. They have shown that they have the talent to excel at the highest level. We have invited them for the camp so that they can improve and learn but while saying this I am certainly not ruling them out of contention for the series,” he said.

On the contrary, both Khalil and Sattar had performed with moderate success in whatever competition they had played.

Khalil, 20, has represented Pakistan in the Under-19 World Cup. He has appeared in six first-class matches some four years back for Redco and Lahore in which he had picked 16 wickets at 25.81.

Sattar, 19, bagged 24 wickets in five Cornelius Trophy matches last season for Larkana.

Aamir further said that Saqlain had not been considered because his county was reluctant to release him as were Mohammad Sami and Younis Khan for other reasons.

“Fast bowler Sami is certainly out of the first two Tests because of sprained ankle while Younis requested not to be considered because of domestic commitments. As regards Saqlain, he requested us that he may be allowed to complete the season with Surrey which we accepted,” Aamir added.

Middle-order batsman Hasan Raza also got the selectors nod after a long period.

Hasan was not picked for the three-nation tournament in Sri Lanka also involving New Zealand despite good showing in the preceding farcical trial matches at Gaddafi Stadium.

On the other hand, Shoaib Akhtar will be available only for the first two Tests.

“We have talked to Durham (Shoaib’s county) who have agreed to release Shoaib Akhtar only for the first two Test matches.

“Initially, we had agreed to release Shoaib for the entire series. But with the unavailability of Mohammad Sami, we have been forced to call our premier strike bowler.

“Nevertheless, we will also fulfil our commitment with Durham and will permit him (Shoaib) to complete his season with them.

“We hope that by that time, Sami would have regained fitness,” commented Zakir Khan, the PCB general manager cricket operations.

The squad for the first Test, starting in Karachi from Aug 20, will be named on Aug 16.

Probables:

Mohammad Hafeez, Taufiq Umar, Yasir Hameed, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Misbah-ul-Haq, Farhan Adil, Hasan Raza, Rashid Latif (captain), Shoaib Malik, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Shabbir Ahmed, Mohammad Khalil, Najaf  Shah, Danish Kaneria, Abdul Sattar, Kamran Akmal, Jaffar Nazir.