Controversial paceman Mohammad Asif has been included in a 17-man squad to play three Test matches on their tour of South Africa starting in January.
Asif was banned for a year on 1 November after testing positive for banned nandrolone but won an appeal a month later and was free to play.
Shoaib Akhtar, banned for two years before also winning an appeal, has been left out of the squad as he is unfit.
And there is no room for Shabbir Ahmed, who is available after a one-year ban.
Shabbir’s suspension was not drugs related. A fast bowler with a good Test record, he has had an illegal bowling action corrected.
But Mohammad Sami and Shahid Nazir, with more modest Test averages and strike rates, retain their squad spots.
Asif has taken 30 wickets in his last five Tests but has not faced South Africa before.
The squad, led by Inzamam-ul-Haq, has nine batsmen, two wicket-keepers, five fast bowlers and one spinner.
Pakistan play three Tests from 11 January. Five one-day internationals follow and an adjusted squad for that series will be announced in due course.
**Pakistan’s Test squad: Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Younis Khan (vice-captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Yousuf, Faisal Iqbal, Asim Kamal, Kamran Akmal, Zulqarnain Haider, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Mohammad Asif, Danish Kaneria, Shahid Nazir, Umar Gul, Mohammad Sami. **
I would have rather included a young spinner than Sami for this tour. With Shahid Nazir, Umar, Rana, and Asif you don't need Sami just for the kicks. A waste of opportunity for a young lad who could learn from this tour. but then again you need visionary thinking for such things which our PCB selectors lack so much.
I would have called it a balanced squad but Sami's inclusion has left a bad taste in my mouth. Frankly speaking, his constant inclusion in the side, is now way beyond the point of frustration and now becoming worrisome. It was a perfect opportunity for PCB to send a youngster, but still they picked up that slacker.
Good to see Asim Kamal in the squad.
It's a shame that Akhtar is not in the squad however he was not looking fit during the twenty/20 games. Iqbal Qasim has hinted that he can be selected for the ODIs later once regaining fitness by playing domestic games.
I am really optimistic that the combination of Asif, Gul and Nazir will do the job on South African pitches, however I would hate to see management picking sami over nazir during the tour.
Looks like a good test side. I guess Abdur Rahman was not picked over Danish Kaneria for the test side. I hope A. Rahman gets a chance to prove himself in the test matches in the near future.
Unfortunately, I guess Nazir might play second fiddle to Sami on this tour.
Instead of Sami, they had a lot of options to take other youngsters but they didnt.
overall not so bad.just like everyone, iam too disappointed with Sami's inclusion and exclusion of young fast bowlers like anwar ali, niazi etc.exclusion of shoaib is not only based on his fitness but as always non cricketing factors as well . his recent brawl regarding not wearing sponsors logo in the 20/20 matches has not left a good taste in many of the followers of the game. iam not saying that this is the reason for his exclusion but everything adds up in shoaib's case.its good to see kamran akmal's back up. we have to protect our players from injuries prior to the world cup
Inclusion of Asim Kamal, Yasir Hameed and Shahid Nazir is a good move, I wonder why Sami and Faisal Iqbal are there both have “talent” but both haven’t done something for looong time.
Imran Farhat is still going with the team, I bet he is gonna play in the WC team as well
u gotta be kidding me,no shoaib akhtar in the side.he is unfit?.he is fine as far as i know.he bowled in the 20/20 competition.they probably want to send him a message after he refused to wear sponsor's logo in the 20/20 cup.
^fawad alam over sami?lol are you on crack?.sami was probably included for 3 reasons first because they dont wanna take shoaib,secondly abdul rahman is getting married and razzaq is unfit.
^i think so too.Mr. Wasim Bari chief of selectors wants to show Shoaib how big his balls are so that he would not refuse to wear pcb sponsors' logos next time
Captain some people will say well this does not show the true talent Sami has. Well yeah thats right this does not show the true talent of Sami pie throwing.
The obsession with Sami is the pace he generates which is second to Shoaib (in Pakistan), THE talent and THE 'potential' probably. Otherwise I don't know why he is hovering around the team and haunting us all.
both have “talent” but both haven’t done something for looong time.