Chief Selector Wasim Bari tackles the press

LAHORE - Waqar Younis retained his captaincy, Wasim Akram made a partial comeback along with another brace of walking wounded, while Saeed Anwar and two to three youngsters were consigned to the wilderness again as chief selector Wasim Bari announced two separate squads for the longer and limited-overs versions of the game for the month-long tour of Zimbabwe here on Saturday.

This is the first instance of Pakistan naming two separate outfits for Tests and one-dayers, but surprisingly the squad for Tests has 15 members and the limited-overs 16 - which is normally the other way round.

In another strange and possibly dubious departure from tradition one must say, Wasim Bari along with fellow selectors Abdul Raqeeb and Shafiq Papa chose to name the team in front of the media, instead of wiring a press release. In the noisy question and answer session, the selectors were heckled no end by many a cricket correspondent, on occasions with rudeness bordering on belligerence. But the grilling was to be expected. For one, the team has mostly been on the receiving end for a spell now, plummeting to a whitewash against the Aussies in the just-concluded Test series, and secondly, this was the first opportunity in recent memory that the avid cricket hacks had an opportunity to have a face-to-face go at the selectors.

To his credit, Bari - not really known for spunk or spine - didn't lose his poise, though given the provocation one would have forgiven him if he had. Defending his record - when he was asked as to why he didn't resign after the team's dismal showing, Bari's refrain mostly was that the selection committee's term of reference was to choose the best available, and not how they were handled on tour or how they performed. The rationale sounded a bit hollow, when in the same breath he mentioned with discernible degree of self-satisfaction that Pakistan had only recently defeated Australia in Australia in the Super Challenge Series.

What happened afterwards? Bari's reasoning was that a fitness problem to too many players combined with poor strategy on tours was the cause of rapid decline, and not the sinister insinuations of infighting, politicking and insolence of the captain. "For the Test series, we were forced to make six changes. If the Australians had made as many instead, they too would have posted similar results".

Though naming the skipper is not the preserve of the selection committee, this being the PCB Chairman's exclusive domain, the sword of Damocles hanging over Waqar Younis was removed mostly because of lack of a viable option; Inzamam-ul-Haq returned as his deputy. Shahid Afridi finally gets the nod to open the innings in both Tests and one-dayers with Saleem Elahi being the third, surprise induction. Since Elahi hadn't done anything out of the ordinary to merit a recall, if Anwar was not to be reconsidered, then it was in the fitness of things to retain faith in either of the two Imrans - Nazir or Farhat. Despite the odd flaw in technique and temperament, the two openers sharing their first name are too talented to remain out of contention for long before getting spots at the top of the order.

But the selectors, in spite of Bari's claim that he believed in giving an extended run to the young prospects, were apparently at the end of their tether with Nazir and Farhat.

Though Bari said that the selectors would continue to have an 'open mind' regarding the seniors, it indeed seemed curtains for Saeed Anwar (whose fitness, form and ability to pass muster in the field was quite suspect in the eyes of selectors). Though Akram too has been named only for the one-dayers - this being his preference for the moment with making the 2003 World Cup squad and taking his tally to beyond 500 wickets being the declared aims - the possibility of the celebrated southpaw playing in Tests remains rather remote.

The middle order looks a whole lot more robust with the return of Inzamam and Yousuf Youhana with Younis Khan, Faisal Iqbal and Hasan Raza holding on to their spots in Tests, with the last named replaced with Misbah-ul-Haq in the one-dayers. The pace attack is four-pronged in Tests, and three-pronged with a seaming all-rounder (Azhar Mahmood) coming in for one-dayers at Mohammad Sami's expense.

Another surprise is naming Kamran Akmal as an under-study for wicket-keeper Rashid Latif. With nothing much to write home about in the 'A' matches against Sri Lanka and in the one trial game on Friday, Moin hadn't really helped his own cause.

"This team is a nice blend of experience and youth, and we expect that it would do well in Zimbabwe", said Bari. They better do that, to retain some modicum of faith in Pakistan cricket.

The schedule:
After a three-day tour opener from November 3 against Zimbabwe A, Pakistan is to feature in two Tests and five-one-dayers, the last of which would be played on December 1. The first Test is in Harare, from November 9-13 while the second is to be played at Bulawayo from November 16-20.

The same two are the venues for one-dayers, with Bulawayo hosting two on successive days (November 23 and 24) and Harare three (November 27, 30 and December 1).

After this series, Pakistan would cross over to South Africa for an identical number of Tests and one-dayers, scheduled for December and January but for that selectors want to tinker with both the teams, saying the teams for the South African leg would be announced later.

Test Squad:
Waqar Younis (captain), Inzamam-ul Haq (vice captain), Taufeeq Umar, Shahid Afridi, Saleem Elahi, Younis Khan, Yousuf Youhana, Faisal Iqbal, Hasan Raza, Rashid Latif, Kamran Akmal, Saqlain Mushtaq, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Zahid and Mohammad Sami.

One-day Squad:
Waqar Younis (captain), Inzamam-ul Haq (vice captain), Shahid Afridi, Taufeeq Umar, Younis Khan, Yousuf Youhana, Misbah-ul-Haq, Saleem Elahi, Rashid Latif, Saqlain Mushtaq, Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Zahid, Faisal Iqbal, Azhar Mahmood and Kamran Akmal.