Ilyas Beg - Inzamam in, Saeed out for Sharjah (1 Apr 1997)

Inzamam in, Saeed out for Sharjah

By Ilyas Beg

LAHORE, March 31: The experienced batsman Inzamamul Haq has been included in place of the Test opener Saeed Anwar to go with the Pakistan cricket team for the three-nation cricket tournament of one-day matches at Sharjah.

The Pakistan team will fly on a direct flight from Lahore to Dubai on Tuesday at 8 pm. The tournament is also being participated by the World Cup champion Sri Lanka team and the "babes of Test cricket", Zimbabwe.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) secretary Waqar Ahmad said that chief selector Salim Altaf took the decision to replace Saeed Anwar with Inzamam-ul-Haq after a meeting with the prolific opener at the Qadhafi Stadium on Monday at 3 pm, as per appointment and later announced the decision.

Talking exclusively to this reporter the team physiotherapist Dr Dan Kiesel said that the present ailment of Saeed Anwar had nothing to do with his past illness which had forced him to come back to Pakistan from Australia a few days after the beginning of that tour.

"Saeed Anwar had an attack of bronchitis and he was administered anti-biotics. He has now recovered from the disease but is not fully fit. I am asking him to take more rest for four or five days. Thereafter, he could resume light training. After some days, he can not only do exercises to regain full physical fitness but also do batting practice and running. My opinion is that Saeed Anwar will be fully fit and in trim by the time the Pakistan team starts the tour of Sri Lanka in mid-April," said the soft-spoken Dan Kiesel.

As for Inzamam-ul-Haq, he told The Management that he had fully recovered from his knee-trouble which had necessitated an operation after the Sahara Cup in Canada last year. He has reduced weight and should be "run-hungry" after a lay-off. The stylish stroke-player has been preferred over other candidates for the berth vacated by Saeed Anwar because of his experience.

The seventeen members of team which will go to Sharjah are:

Captain Wasim Akram, Ramiz Raja, Sajid Ali, Ejaz Ahmad Senior, Shahid Afridi, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Salim Malik, Muhammad Wasim, Mushtaq Ahmad, Moin Khan, Saqlain Mushtaq, Waqar Younis, Muhammad Zahid and Shahid Nazir. Physiotherapist: Dr Dan Kiesel. Tour manager: Yar Muhammad Solangi. Cricket manager: Mushtaq Muhammad.

Source:: Dawn (https://xiber.com/dawn/)