Pacer Irshad may be called to camp for Sri Lanka tour
By our correspondent
KARACHI: The national selection committee met in Lahore on Monday to deliberate upon the selection of probables for next month’s tour of Sri Lanka where Pakistan play two Tests and three One-day Internationals (ODIs).
Chief selector Wasim Bari said, after the long meeting, that it had been held basically to deliberate upon the choice of probables and that it was decided to announce them after a few days since the Twenty20 Cup was also underway in Karachi.
But he did indicate that young pacer Mohammad Irshad, in the absence of the injured Shoaib Akhtar and suspended Shabbir Ahmed, stood a very good chance of making the training camp as he had been bowling well in domestic cricket and in the side matches he played against England and India.
Bari also confirmed that all-rounder Shahid Afridi had recovered from his ribcage injury but didn’t elaborate on whether he would play for his regional team, Karachi in the Twenty20 Cup when he was fit.
A PCB source said the selectors had finalised a shortlist of players for the training camp which begins immediately after the Twenty20 ends on March 4. “There are some new faces in the probables’ list but this list can be changed later on,” the source said. The selectors are also said to have consulted Inzamam-ul-Haq during the meeting as coach Bob Woolmer is out of the country on vacations.
The source pointed out that generally most of the players who appeared against England and India selected themselves for the camp with a question mark remaining over the fitness of pacer Umar Gul.
He said others like Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, Inzamam, Faisal Iqbal, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Sami, Rana Naved, Mohammad Asif, Danish Kaneria and Gul were obvious choices. “It’ll be interesting to see what the selectors have decided for veteran off-spinner Arshad Khan and whether they retain him for Sri Lanka given the conditions there or opt for one or two youngsters like Mansoor Amjad and Tahir Khan,” the source said.
The selection of the touring squad for Sri Lanka could be the final assignment for Bari and his men as the Ad-hoc Committee, which meets again on March 28, has come close to appointing a new paid selection committee.
** First-Class Career Bowling (2002/03-2005/06)**
**Balls Mdns Runs Wkts BB Ave 5wI 10wM SRate Econ**
5294 135 3306 106 6-78 31.18 3 0 49.94 3.74
**One-Day Career Bowling (2002/03-2005/06)
**
**Balls Mdns Runs Wkts BB Ave 4wI 5wI SRate Econ**
1319 3 1231 37 4-29 33.27 2 0 35.64 5.59
Is Mohammad Irshad what we have been looking for? Is he the possible candidate to stand toe-to-toe besides the express Shoaib Akhtar in the near future?
On another note, Sami/Kaneria/Arshad…should these three be back in the team, or is the duo of Asif/Rana(?)/Razzaq and Afridi/Malik enough to dominate the fast and spin bowling departments, respectively, for now?
Onto the batting department, my personal feeling right now is to have Faisal Iqbal be inducted into the squad, as he would make for a fairly strong selection, given his brilliant recent performances (as compared to the likes of Imran Farhat).
actions makes me wonder how good Tahir Khan will be.
ouch 
