Asif recalled after impressive recovery

Mohammad Asif, the Pakistan fast bowler, has made an unexpected comeback to the national side six months after his last appearance. A lingering elbow problem had initially ruled him out of the Bangladesh series but he showed impressive recovery and was drafted into Pakistan's squad for the fourth one-day international in Multan.

Asif has had a prolonged struggle with an elbow problem which kept him out of international cricket since October 2007, and late last month it was determined that he hadn't completed his rehabilitation from an elbow surgery he underwent in Sydney last December. But Asif made a comeback to competitive cricket last week, bowling in a domestic limited-overs match in Karachi.

Pakistan made another change to the 16-man squad. With Nasir Jamshed ruled out with a hand injury, sustained before the third match, Naumanullah was rewarded for a prolific domestic season in which he scored 1235 first-class runs at 53.69, with four hundreds, and 269 in limited-overs appearances.

After being named the best batsman in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy for the 2007-08 season he was included in Pakistan's 15-man squad for the final ODI against Zimbabwe in February.

The second ODI is in Multan on April 16 followed by the final fixture in Karachi three days later.