Asia Cup training camp gets under way

Pakistan has begun training in earnest for the Asia Cup one-day tournament to be played in Sri Lanka next month. A camp for probables got under way at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on June 28.

Of a total of 26 probables selected by the Pakistan Cricket Board, 19 are attending the camp while the other seven are due to join soon when they complete stints for various teams in England. Shoaib Malik, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Faisal Iqbal, Danish Kaneria, Yasir Arafat and Shabbir Ahmed, who are playing county cricket in England, are expected to join the camp at the earliest.

Bob Woolmer, the newly-appointed coach of the Pakistan team, is expected to join the camp on July 2. There is every possibility that he will be assisted by Greg Chappell, the former Australian captain, and Barry Richards, the legendary South African batsman, who were both signed by the PCB as consultants.

Pakistan are current holders of the Asia Cup, having won the last edition of the tournament under the captaincy of Moin Khan at Dhaka in 2000.

Full list of probables expected to attend the camp
Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed, Imran Nazir, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Abdul Razzaq, Moin Khan, Umar Gul, Kamran Akmal, Rana Naveed-ul-Hassan, Younis Khan, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Mohammad Hafeez, Asim Kamal, Salman Butt, Riaz Afridi, Zahid Saeed, Misbah-ul-Haq, Bazid Khan, Shoaib Malik, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Faisal Iqbal, Danish Kaneria, Yasir Arafat, Shabbir Ahmed.