Rashid quits from Test arena

Former Pakistan captain and wicketkeeper Rashid Latif Wednesday announced his retirement from Test cricket bringing to an end a controversial career spanning 10 years.

However Rashid 34, in his decision conveyed to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said he would be available for the five oneday matches on the forthcoming South African tour and the next year's World Cup following which he would quit for good.

A spokesman for the PCB confirmed that Rashid had decided to hang his gloves and termed it an "individual decision."

"We have informed the chief selector Wasim Bari in this regard and it will now be up to the selection committee if they consider him good enough to be selected for the one-dayers," the spokesman said.

Rashid will always be remembered as the main whistle-blower about match-fixing and betting involving Pakistani team for which he paid heavy price missing out several years international cricket when at the top of his professional career.

Rashid, who was on both the one-day and Tests squads for the on-going tour of Zimbabwe had to return home prematurely after a recurrence of a neck injury amid lots of controversy.

Rashid made his Test debut against England at The Oval in 1992 and played 34 Tests for Pakistan scoring 1277 runs at an average of 28.37 with a strike rate of 47.59. He scored one century and six fifties.

His last Test was against Australia at Sharjah in 2002-2003 and his highest score was 150 against the West Indies in 2001-2002 at the same venue. With 102 catches and 10 stumpings, Rashid is said to be the finest wicketkeeper Pakistan has ever produced, better even than Wasim Bari.

During his career, Rashid also represented the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA), United Bank and Allied Bank with great distinction.

Meanwhile the PCB hailed his services as a wicketkeeper, batsman and captain and said he had always been a good ambassador of the game and had put in his best for Pakistan cricket.