Pakistan's selectors picked five uncapped players in their 15-man squad for the
first Test against Sri Lanka in Karachi, also recalling middle-order batsman
Asim Kamal. Under-19 opener Ahmed Shehzad, who scored a hundred in a warm-up
game against the tourists, was a surprise first-time pick, while others joining
him as first-timers in the Test setup are fast bowlers Mohammad Talha and Sohail
Khan, opener Khurram Manzoor and allrounder Fawad Alam.
The selectors picked Shehzad following his 146 for the PCB Patrons XI in the
two-day tour match against the Sri Lankans in Karachi, again overlooking Nasir
Jamshed. The opening batsman was also a part of the U-19 squad for the World Cup
in Malaysia last year.
"Shehzad was not selected in the initial squad of 22 but I said last week that
we can pick a player from outside the first list," chief selector Abdul Qadir
said. "So after hitting a hundred against Sri Lanka we could not ignore Shehzad."
Kamal's return is otherwise notable, capping the end of a three-year Test exile.
Kamal played the last of his 12 Tests in 2005 against England, since when he has
been the subject of contentious debate among several selection committees and
captains.
He has been in steady, rather than spectacular, form this season (451 runs in
eight Quaid-e-Azam trophy games) but his many backers will argue that he should
never have been dropped in the first place. The man who leads the domestic
run-charts, Fawad Alam (855 runs at 122.14) provides competition alongwith
Faisal Iqbal for a middle-order berth.
There will be mild surprise elsewhere at the exclusion of Sohail Tanvir,
essentially dropped at the expense of Yasir Arafat. The selectors believe the
pair were vying for the same spot, and though both were in fine domestic form,
Arafat's impressive Test debut against India in Bangalore in 2007 - the last
Test Pakistan played - ensured he got the nod.
The emergence of Talha hasn't helped Tanvir's cause either; highly-regarded by
men such as Wasim Akram over the last two seasons, Talha has set the domestic
scene alight, with 34 wickets so far in six games.
Kamran Akmal has also been retained in the side, despite a team management
report after the ODI series loss to Sri Lanka, which specifically asked for a
replacement to be found for the continually under-performing Akmal. Qadir
indicated the decision was Younis Khan's, strangely admitting it hadn't crossed
his mind.
The squad was the first picked by this committee and Younis, who took over as
captain of Pakistan from Shoaib Malik after the ODI loss to Sri Lanka.
Squad: Younis Khan (capt), Salman Butt, Khurram Manzoor, Ahmed Shehzad, Shoaib
Malik, Misbah-ul-Haq, Faisal Iqbal, Asim Kamal, Fawad Alam, Yasir Arafat, Danish
Kaneria, Kamran Akmal (wk), Umar Gul, Mohammad Talha, Sohail Khan. |
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