Saeed Anwar unavailable for Lanka tour (11 Apr 1997)

11 April 1997

Saeed Anwar unavailable for Lanka tour

KARACHI, April 10: Saeed Anwar has pulled out from the Sri Lanka tour expressing his inability because of weakness.

Mushtaq Mohammad said from Sharjah that Saeed Anwar has informed the Chairman, PCB, Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah Bokhari, that he is not fit. "It's a blow. It's very sad that Saeed Anwar is not fit. He could have been a crucial player," Mushtaq said. Mushtaq agreed that the PCB Chief Executive and Chief Selector were in Sharjah but stressed that he didn't knew who were the likely changes for the Sri Lankan tour. "They have not informed us so far," Mushtaq said.

However, sources in the city said Salim Elahi, after the withdrawal of Saeed Anwar, was now a certainty. They added that tie for the second player was between Hasan Raza and Farhan Adil, the two promising Under-19 cricketers who excelled in South Africa and then in the home series against Australia.

Two changes will be made in the Pakistan team that proceeds to Sri Lanka on Sunday after returning from Sharjah on Saturday. Sajid Ali and Shahid Khan Afridi are likely to lose their places. Hasan Raza, however, seems to have an edge over Farhan Adil as he has played a Test against Zimbabwe in Faisalabad. "He is a very promising player. He is a player around him the future Pakistan batting will revolve," sources said. It has also come to knowledge that Haroon Rasheed will have the final say. "Haroon was associated with the two players. He knows the two more than anyone else. The one who get selected will definitely have the support of Haroon (Rasheed)," sources said.

Saeed Anwar was fighting fit before being attacked by bronchitis some four days before the team was to leave for Sharjah. Saeed had then stated that his body was quite weak because he was undertaking a course of antibiotics. With Saeed Anwar unfit and Aamir Sohail unlikely to play any more cricket for Pakistan, Asif Mujtaba would have been a better selection. Mujtaba's experience and temperament is excellent and he could be a player who might be required in Sri Lanka to block one end. If players like Ramiz Raja and Sajid Ali can make a comeback to one-day cricket after performing in the National One-day Championship, Asif Mujtaba has a more justified claim after he excelled in the Patron's and Quaid-i-Azam Trophy scoring 913 runs in 22 innings at 50.72 with three centuries and four half centuries. Last season Mujtaba had scored more than 1,400 first-class runs as well.

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