Pakistan team for West Indies tour named

Sharjah, March 29: Discarded leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed was recalled to the Pakistan cricket team for the first leg of the West Indies tour which will feature a triangular one-day series also involving Zimbabwe besides the host.

Stylish middle-order batsman Mohammad Wasim, along with wicket-keeper Atiq-uz-Zaman, were also drafted in for the Caribbean tour. The triangular series startson April 1 with the opener between Zimbabwe and West Indies at Jamaica.

Pakistan open the tour against Zimbabwe at Antigua on April 5.

However, the injured trio of opener Saeed Anwar, off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq and all-rounder Azhar Mahmood were left out to nurse their injuries.

"Azhar Mahmood ruled himself out of the team since he has not fully recovered. Saeed and Saqlain have been give a couple of weeks more to prove their fitness before the start of the Test series," the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB Lt-Gen Tauqir Zia told a press conference on Wednesday.

"Saeed has already undergone surgery in England while Saqlain, who has been suffering from dizziness during the Pakistan-Sri Lanka series, is well on his way to recovery in England. I hope both will be start the Test series in West Indies," said the general.

The three-Test series begins with the first Test at Guyana between May 5 and 9. The second Test will be played at Barbados between May 18 and 22 while the final game will be played at Antigua between May 25 and 29.

"Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar will miss the first one-dayer because they will fly to Dhaka from Sharjah to take part in a Asia vs Rest of the World game. In case the groin injury returns to Shoaib, then we have a very talented fast bowler Irfan Fazil waiting in the wings to replace him," he said referring to a niggling groin injury to the world's fastest bowler which forced him out of the match on Tuesday in the middle of his spell.

The Dhaka match is scheduled for April 8. Wasim Akram will lead the Asian Eleven while Brian Lara will skipper the Rest of the World.

"The problem in Pakistan is abundance and not the lack of fast bowlers. There is plenty of talent waiting for its turn back home," said the general smilingly.

On the difficult subject of India-Pakistan cricketing relations, the said: "We toured India last time to break the ice and now it's India's turn to reciprocate. The tour is scheduled for January and if they (India) come we'll receive them with open arms."

"But I believe that cricketing relations should be kept separate from political relations," the general concluded.

Moin Khan (captain), Inzamam-ul-Haq (vice-captain), Imran Nazir, Wajahatullah Wasti, Shahid Afridi, Naveed Qureshi, Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Mohammad Wasim, Abdur Razzaq, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Akram, Arshad Khan, Mushtaq Ahmad and Atiq-uz-Zaman.