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Published 13 Dec, 2005 12:00am

Shahid Afridi back in ODI squad

LAHORE, Dec 12: All-rounder Shahid Afridi will play the third One-day against England in place of leg-spinner Danish Kaneria.

The third match of the five match series is scheduled to be held at National Stadium, Karachi on Thursday.

Pakistan captain Inzamamul Haq told newsmen about Afridi, after his side won the second match by seven wickets at Qadhafi Stadium on Monday to make it one-all.

Afridi missed the third Test and back-to-back ODIs in Lahore for a ban imposed on him by the ICC referee for scuffing the pitch in the second Test at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad.

Inzamam said that the win in the second ODI was the result of team-work.

“All our bowlers, Shoaib Akhtar, Sami, Rana (Navid) and Danish bowled well and in the end Kamran Akmal played well to make victory possible,” he said.

Inzamam remarked that by the grace of God he achieved another milestone of completing 11,000 runs in ODIs.

Shoaib Akhtar, who took five wickets for 54 and was instrumental in Pakistan’s triumph said that he had decided to pitch the ball at the right side to stem the flow of runs which paid rich dividends in the shape of five-wicket haul.

Akhtar remarked that the win was necessary as it denied England taking any physiological edge.

Akhtar, who was declared Man-of-the-Match, said that he had always been playing for the country and did hard work.

“Sometime you are abundantly successful while at times there are bad days,” he said. Akhtar, who staged a comeback after missing the away home series against India and the West Indies this year, has been enjoying the current series as he finished with 17 wickets in the three Test match series.

Squad: Inzamamul Haq (captain), Younis Khan (vice-captain), Salman Butt, Yasir Hameed, Mohammad Yousuf, Kamran Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Malik, Yasir Arafat, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Rana Naved, Mohammad Asif, Danish Kaneria, Arshad Khan.

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