KARACHI, June 18: Embattled wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal is unlikely to be considered for next week’s Asia Cup after another shoddy display in the tri-series that Pakistan won last week in Bangladesh.

The selectors, who are due to announce the 15-man Pakistan squad on Thursday, have all but decided to recall the talented Sarfraz Ahmed in place of the 26-year-old Kamran who not for the first time has been found wanting behind the stumps.

Chairman selection committee Salahuddin Ahmed and his fellow selectors Saleem Jaffer and Shafqat Rana have reportedly taken serious notice of Kamran’s sketchy show in Dhaka.

They will also be mindful of PCB chief Dr Nasim Ashraf’s e-mail to the Pakistan team management which was sent a day after Shoaib Malik’s side had suffered a heavy defeat against India in the round match.

In that e-mail, a copy of which was obtained by Dawn, Dr Nasim had lashed out at the wicket-keeper’s below-par performance and made particular reference to his ‘unsporting behaviour’.

“Wicket-keeping was pathetic, especially after Kamran [Akmal] dropped the catch and pretended that he had held on to it. This is unsporting behaviour. I do not want such behaviour from any Pakistan player. Please warn everyone! We ought to be looking at playing another ‘keeper,” Dr Ashraf had warned in that e-mail.

Despite his indifferent form with the gloves in recent times, Kamran has managed to cling on to his spot mainly because Malik and coach Geoff Lawson have resisted moves to get him replaced while at the same time increasing his workload by using the wicket-keeper/batsman as an opener in the one-day arena.

But with the emergence of Sarfraz, who led Pakistan to the Under-19 World Cup title in Sri Lanka in early 2006, the selectors have lost patience with Kamran because they are unwilling to gamble with an out-of-form wicket-keeper for a major event like the Asia Cup.

Sarfraz, on the other hand, made a heartening international debut in Jaipur last November when he replaced Kamran for the last game of the ODI series that Pakistan lost 3-2. Since then the 21-year-old has appeared in two further one-dayers, when the selectors rested Kamran, during Zimbabwe’s tour of Pakistan earlier this year.

If the selectors do go for the change, this would benefit Kamran — who has played in 38 Tests and 88 One-day Internationals since his debut in November 2002 — in the long run because he can come back refreshed after playing international cricket almost non-stop since he took over the wicket-keeping duties from Moin Khan in late 2004.

The selectors are contemplating other changes in the squad that went to Bangladesh. Reserve batsmen Naumanullah and Bazid Khan could find themselves sidelined because they are not all that nimble in the outfield.

With most of the squad picking themselves, the selectors could induct a couple of players who had performed well during the national one-day championship this year.

Uncapped Azhar Ali was the leading run-getter in that event with 558 runs in nine matches for the KRL while averaging close to 80.

Yasir Hameed, who played the last of his 56 One-day Internationals at Jaipur in November, is also under consideration after scoring 355 runs in eight national one-day cup ties last season.

Out-of-favour Pakistan slow left-armer Abdur Rehman, the leading wicket-taker in the domestic limited-overs competition with 23 scalps last season, is also being mentioned as a possible inclusion because of his experience of bowling on slow tracks.

With Mohammad Asif out of the picture at the moment, rookie speedster Sohail Khan is also likely to keep his place.

The six-team Asia Cup starts simultaneously on Tuesday with hosts Pakistan taking on minnows Hong Kong in Karachi and Bangladesh playing United Arab Emirates in Lahore.

Defending champions Sri Lanka and India are the other sides in the tournament that concludes with the final in Karachi on July 6.

Likely Pakistan squad for Asia Cup: Shoaib Malik (captain), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Fawad Alam, Sarfraz Ahmed (wicket-keeper), Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Khan, Abdur Rehman.