The Hindu : Sport : Inzamam-ul-Haq has plenty of options

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 10, 2006

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Inzamam-ul-Haq has plenty of options

Special Correspondent

Rival captains unveil the trophy

— Photo: S. Subramanium

THE PRIZED TROPHY: Rival captains Rahul Dravid and Inzamam-ul-Haq pose with the Allianz Cup after unveiling the same.

Lahore: Pakistan has recalled opener Imran Farhat in the squad for the first Test against India, beginning at the Gaddafi Stadium here on January 13.

The left-hander last played for Pakistan in 2004 at Melbourne where he produced scores of 20 and 5 in the Boxing Day Test.

Farhat's punishing 107 for Pakistan `A' in the tour game and the opening provided by the illness to Yasir Hameed, have earned the southpaw a place in the team. Farhat has 841 runs in 15 Tests at 30.03.

It will be a toss up between Farhat and Shoaib Malik for the choice of Salman Butt's partner.

The Inzamam-ul-Haq-led squad has another interesting selection in paceman Mohammad Asif. The 23-year-old bowler's lone Test for Pakistan was in Sydney, 2004, where he had figures of none for 88 in 18 overs.

He has subsequently turned in some strong performances in domestic cricket.

Razzaq returns

But the fact that Asif has been picked ahead of the probing Umar Gul, who did not bowl badly in the tour match, comes as a surprise. All-rounder Abdul Razzaq, having recovered from a bout of typhoid, returns.

However, left-handed middle-order batsman Asim Kamal, who has proved a difficult customer to dislodge for the Indians in the past, has been dropped due to ordinary form.

The squad has five specialist batsmen (Inzamam, Younis Khan, Mohd. Yousuf, Butt and Farhat), three all-rounders (Shahid Afridi, Malik and Razzaq), a competent wicketkeeper-batsman in Kamran Akmal, four pacemen (Shoaib Akhtar, Mohd. Sami, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, and Asif) and two spinners (leggie Danish Kaneria and offie Arshad Khan).

It is a well-balanced squad that provides Inzamam with plenty of options.

The Pakistan squad (for first Test):

Inzamam-ul-Haq (captain), Younis Khan (vice-captain), Salman Butt, Shoaib Malik, Imran Farhat, Mohd. Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Mohd. Sami, Shoaib Akhtar, Danish Kaneria, Arshad Khan, Mohd. Asif.

UNI reports

Team India captain Rahul Dravid and Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq on Monday unveiled the Allianz Cup for the three-match Test series starting January 13.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shaharyar Khan was present on the occasion. The distinguished guests underlined the passion that an India-Pakistan series generates.

They also expected the people of the two countries to come together not just to enjoy the game of cricket, but also to share their love and affection with their neighbours.

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