Talha, Saeed bin Nasir named among probables for first Sri Lanka Test: Asim Kamal recalled after three years
Chief selector and former Test leg-spinner Abdul Qadir, addressing a media conference here on Tuesday, with selection committee members Saleem Jaffer and Shoaib Mohammad, also named all-rounder Shahid Afridi to lead the Patron’s XI squad for the two-day warm-up game against Sri Lanka in Karachi on Feb 17-18.
The national camp will be held at Pakistan Steel Mills ground from Feb 15.
Among the 22 probables announced, nine are yet to make Test debut while six have either been away from the game’s longer version for quite sometime or have very little experience of Test cricket.
Therefore, the players, specially the experienced ones, will have to work extremely hard to win the Test rubber they will be playing after a long gap of 14 months against a highly professional side like Sri Lanka.
Nasir Jamshed, Khurram Manzoor, Fawad Alam, Saeed bin Nasir, Mohammad Talha, Sohail Khan, Abdur Rauf, Saeed Ajmal and Sarfraz Ahmed are the probables who are yet to show their skills in Test cricket.
Similarly, Asim Kamal (12), Bazid Khan (one Test) and Faisal Iqbal (21 Tests), if selected in the playing eleven, will be in the international arena after a while.
Incidentally, Asim, Bazid and Faisal along with uncapped Saeed bin Nasir are available to strengthen the middle-order batting, which has become weaker due to ban on seasoned campaigner Mohammad Yousuf (for joining the ICL) and out-of-form Afridi.
Asim had played last Test way back in December 2005 against England in Lahore. Bazid played his career’s only Test so far against the West Indies at Bridgetown in May 2006.
Though Faisal was part of the Pakistan team which played the last Test against India in Bangalore in December 2007, he could not be selected for ODI matches after that.
Abdul Qadir, however, hoped that Asim, Faisal, Bazid and Saeed all had the talent to strengthen the middle-order.
“Though seasoned cricketers like Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq and Shoaib Malik are available in the middle-order, players like Asim, Faisal, Bazid and Saeed bin Nasir are good cushion and are quite capable to deliver,” the chief selector said.
“Coach [Intikhab Alam] and captain [Younis Khan] were consulted as they had their input in the selection of the probables,” he said.
Asked since Pakistan required a seasoned batsman and if Yasir Hameed was not a better choice with tested opener Salman Butt in place of uncapped Nasir and Khurram, Qadir said the latter two were showing good form in the domestic cricket, therefore, were given chances.
Yasir has played 23 Tests, scoring 1450 runs at an average 34.52.
About Afridi’s ordinary run with bat and ball, Qadir was all praise for the all-rounder, saying: “Afridi is a utility player as he can serve the team in any of the three departments [batting, bowling, fielding] and I can think about his alternative who matches even 70 per cent of his [Afridi’s] qualities.”
Asked if Afridi was named as captain for the warm-up match to test his current form, Qadir said the player was a world-class cricketer and did not need any test.
The chief selector pinned his hopes on promising pace bowler Mohammad Talha, hinting he could be given a chance in the first Test.
“I am very much impressed by the qualities of Talha. Therefore, we selected him for the camp,” Qadir, who claimed 236 wickets in 67 Tests, said.
In the pace bowling department Pakistan will only have lone fast bowler in Umar Gul with some sort of experience as Sohail Tanvir (two Tests), Yasir Arafat (one) along with uncapped Sohail Khan, Abdur Rauf besides Talha can easily be considered as raw in the business.
Danish Kaneria and Saeed Ajmal are the two specialist spinners included in the list.
Probables: Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Khurram Manzoor, Younis Khan (captain), Shoaib Malik, Misbah-ul-Haq, Faisal Iqbal, Asim Kamal, Fawad Alam, Bazid Khan, Saeed bin Nasir, Sohail Tanvir, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Yasir Arafat, Danish Kaneria, Umar Gul, Mohammad Talha, Sohail Khan, Abdur Rauf, Saeed Ajmal, Sarfraz Ahmed.
Patron’s XI squad (for warm-up): Ahmed Shahzad, Azhar Ali, Bazid Khan, Saeed bin Nasir, Asim Kamal, Khaqan Arsal, Bilal Khilji, Shahid Afridi (captain), Sarfraz Ahmed (wicket-keeper), Yasir Shah, Mohammad Khalil, Wahab Riaz, Fahad Masood, Najaf Shah, Azeem Ghumman.