Technical Committee confirms Sami and Arafat can replace Akhtar and Asif in Pakistan squad for ICC Cricket World Cup

The ICC today confirmed the Technical Committee of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 has approved Mohammad Sami and Yasir Arafat as replacement players for Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif in Pakistan's squad for the tournament.

The confirmation was conveyed to Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in an email from David Richardson, the ICC General Manager - Cricket and the Chairman of the tournament Technical Committee, on Wednesday.

Sami and Arafat replace their fellow fast bowlers after medical reports were received confirming Akhtar is suffering from injuries to his left knee and left hamstring while Asif has pain and tenderness in his right elbow.

Sami and Arafat are the third and fourth replacement players respectively to be called up for the tournament.

Australia's Stuart Clark, who replaced Brett Lee (ankle), and Pakistan's Azhar Mahmood, who came in for Abdul Razzaq (knee), are the other players to be called up by any of the 16 teams taking part following the announcements of the final squads of 15 players.

The process required for approving Sami and Arafat was the same as that followed by Cricket Australia and Pakistan Cricket Board in the cases of Clark and Mahmood.

They applied in writing to the tournament Technical Committee for permission to replace the players and those applications were supported by medical reports confirming the injuries and certifying that the players were not fit for the event.

The Technical Committee of the ICC Cricket World Cup consists of David Richardson (Chairman, ICC representative), Campbell Jamieson (IDI representative), former international captains Michael Atherton and Rameez Raja (both independent nominations), Chris Dehring (Managing Director and CEO of the ICC CWC 2007) and Michael Hall (ICC CWC 2007 Cricket Operations Director).