Saudi exhibition matches delayed

An exclusive article in the Indian Express claims that Rashid Latif has put plans for two exhibition matches in Saudi Arabia on hold amid reports he is being lined up to replace Inzamam-ul-Haq as Pakistan's captain.

Inzamam has been under increasing pressure after a series of poor performances by Pakistan in Australia, and Rashid is being mentioned as a likely successor. He had been working on staging day-night exhibition matches at Riyadh (February 23) and Jeddah (February 25) with many top players being approached to participate. The article stated that a Pakistan XI was being assembled which would also include Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.

And Latif admitted that some boards were less than enthusiastic about the venture. "The current Indian players are not getting permission from their board," he told the newspaper. "We may therefore have to settle for players like Ajay Jadeja, Robin Singh and such other former cricketers."

It is thought that the matches, which have the backing of the ICC, will now be delayed by at least two months.

The incomplete original squads, which were announced last week, were:-

World XI Ajay Jadeja, Robin Singh, Venkatesh Prasad, Venkatpathy Raju, Roshan Mahanama, Kumara Dharamsena, Richie Richardson and Courtney Walsh

Pakistan XI Rashid Latif, Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, Ejaz Ahmed, Saeed Anwar, Amir Sohail, Azhar Mahmood, Mushtaq Ahmed, Salim Elahi, Imran Nazir, Aquib Javed, Asif Mujtaba, Salim Jaffer, Arshad Khan and Wajahat-ullah Wasti