KARACHI, May 2: The national cricket selectors on Monday decided against recalling fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar and former captain Moin Khan for Pakistan’s forthcoming West Indies tour while announcing a 17-man squad. But there was good news for fit-again pace bowler Shabbir Ahmed and batsman Bazid Khan who were included in the touring party for the two Tests and three One-day Internationals.

Instead of naming separate squads for Test and one-dayers, the selectors opted for a combined squad for the 29-day trip with skipper Inzamamul Haq and Shoaib Malik both unavailable for the first Test in Barbados because of bans imposed on them by the International Cricket Council and the Pakistan Cricket Board, respectively for different offences.

After leading Pakistan in the three-match one-day series, Inzamam will serve a one-Test ICC ban after showing dissent in the final Test against India at Bangalore. Malik, meanwhile, is barred after admitting that he deliberately threw a match in the Twenty20 Cup. The all-rounder was also fined 75 per cent of his match fee from the first ODIs in the West Indies.

Wasim Bari, the chairman of selectors, told Dawn that Shoaib was ruled out on ‘fitness’ grounds. “We discussed Shoaib’s case at length before agreeing unanimously that he still requires more time to regain peak match fitness even though he has made a recovery from his hamstring injury which he sustained last January in Australia,” Bari commented.

“At the same time, we felt that Umar Gul (the paceman who has just returned to action after a year out of the game because of stress fracture in his back) would be a risk in the West Indies at this stage.” Shoaib, who has bagged 144 Test and 186 One-day International wickets, was also not considered for the recent tour of India before he resumed playing in the domestic Twenty20 Cup.

Bari further said that Shabbir, who underwent knee surgery in South Africa last year, was being recalled since he had been cleared for the tour by the PCB medical panel. Fast bowler Mohammad Sami, who missed the last two one-day matches in India last month, may still fly out to the Caribbean islands for the Test series if he makes sufficient recovery from a surgery for the removal of a corn on his right heel some days ago.

The chief selector defended the committee’s decision to stick with Kamran Akmal as the sole wicket-keeper while ignoring the strong claims of Moin, who struck a purple in the just-ended domestic season during which he scored five centuries in all forms of cricket.

“We thought long and hard before arriving at a decision. We felt that Kamran should go as the only wicket-keeper for the sake of continuity. “We just want to give Kamran a fair chance although he did struggle in India behind the stumps. But he is a young chap who is learning gradually,” added Bari, who himself is a former wicket-keeper with a Pakistan record number of dismissals in 81 Tests.

About the inclusion of Bazid, the 24-year-old son of ex-Test great Majid Khan, Bari stressed that the batsman might be required to fill in the breach created by the non-availability of Inzamam and Shoaib Malik for the first Test.

Bazid, who played in two One-day Internationals against Zimbabwe during a tri-series at home last year, made lasting impression during Pakistan ‘A’s recent tour of Sri Lanka where he made 336 runs in the two unofficial Tests, including two centuries.

Vice-captain Younis Khan is poised to become Pakistan’s 25th Test skipper when he leads the side in Inzamam’s enforced absence in the first Test. Inzamam, Younis, Yousuf Youhana and Abdul Razzaq are the only four members of the current squad with previous experience of having played in the West Indies. Opener Taufiq Umar and all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez are the only changes in the team that visited India.

“In the given situation, this is the best available squad that has been picked with the consent of both the captain and coach (Bob Woolmer),” Bari said. “We hope it will achieve the best results as it did against India.”

The Pakistan squad, which leaves for the West Indies on May 11, starts its tour with a one-day practice game in Antigua before the international programme starts with the first ODI in St Vincent on May 18, which will be followed by the double-header in St Lucia on May 21 and 22.

The first begins in Bridgetown on May 26 before the final Test gets under way in Kingston on June 3. The squad returns home on June 8.

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