Razzaq to miss tour game against Northamptonshire

After losing several of their key players because of injuries earlier this summer, Pakistan are now facing further fitness problems with allrounder Abdul Razzaq suffering from a back problem following the first Test at Lord's.

"Razzaq says he has a painful back after his final day's outing," said Zaheer Abbas, the Pakistan team manager, who added that Razzaq had requested the team management to rest him in the four-day game against Northamptonshire beginning on July 20. Zaheer said that Razzaq's injury didn't seem serious and that he should be fit in time for the second Test at Old Trafford from July 27.

Razzaq, though, is not the only player who is unfit to play at Northampton. With the mercury soaring in the thirties, Zaheer said that around five to six players want to rest ahead of the Old Trafford Test. With just 15 players available for selection, the team management would find it difficult to have 11 willing players for the match against Northamptonshire under the blazing sun.

Zaheer said that the team management might ask some of the discarded Pakistan players settled in England to fill in if they are unable to find enough players from their camp to play the four-day game. "We might call players like Arshad Khan to come and play for us at Northampton."

Mushtaq Ahmed, the legspinner, also received the backing of Pakistan selectors for a possible recall for the Old Trafford Test.

"It all depends on the team's planning for the Test. Inzamam knows Mushtaq better than anyone else. If he wants to play him because of special circumstances, we will support him," Wasim Bari, the chief selector, told Reuters. "We have four to five injuries in the team and we have to look at things very differently and we need special thinking. By and large we support the captain."

Bari added that Asif and Shoaib Malik, who returned to Pakistan earlier in the week with elbow injuries, would require at least four weeks to make full recoveries.