Hasan Raza named captain

Middle-order batsman Hasan Raza will lead the PCB Eleven in the threeday match against Bangladesh to be played at the UBL Sports Complex between Aug 24 and 26.

Paceman Shabbir Ahmad, who was reported for a suspect bowling action, has been named in the side. The six feet five inches tall bowler toured Sri Lanka with the Pakistan "A" a couple of months back but had spent most of the time on massage bench after struggling for fitness.

Nevertheless, Misbah-ul-Haq, who performed exceptionally on the Sri Lankan tour, has been recalled after being overlooked by the dummy selectors for the ongoing training camp at the National Stadium in Karachi.

Misbah, who made his Test debut in New Zealand, had saved the first `Test' against Sri Lanka with a stubborn knock of 91 runs. He aggregated 324 runs on the tour. Surprisingly, the selection committee did not name injury-prone paceman Shoaib Akhtar in the team which was essential for testing his match fitness.

Salman Butt, a promising left-handed opener, was a deserving candidate after accumulating 475 runs in the five inter-academy matches.

Paceman Najaf Shah and spinner Azam Husain also make into the team despite not being considered good enough to participate in the training camp.

Squad: Hasan Raza (captain), Imran Nazir, Taufeeq Umar, Naved Latif, Yasir Arafat, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Atiquz Zaman (wicketkeeper), Shabbir Ahmad, Najaf Shah, Azam Husain. Asim Kamal (12th man).