Waqar named to lead in Sharjah

Paceman Waqar Younis was named captain while Inzamamul-Haq was retained as vice-captain in the 15-member Pakistan squad for the Sharjah Cup to be played from April 8 to 20.

Pakistan squad will leave for Sharjah Thursday. Sri Lanka and and New Zealand, a last-minute change in place of India, are the other two teams in the tri-nation competition.

Surprisingly, the team will not be accompanied by a coach as Javed Miandad and Manager Faqir Aizazuddin have been shown the door.

A member of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) advisory council Yawar Saeed has been appointed manager of the team.

The decisions were taken by the PCB advisory council which met at the Gaddafi Stadium on Tuesday.

Later briefing newsmen the PCB chairman Lt Gen Tauqir Zia said that he needed the services of Miandad here to brief him on different cricketing affairs. The team is without a coach for the first time.

The PCB chairman pointed out several players including Wasim Akram Moin Khan, Yousuf Youhana, Shoaib Akhtar and Azhart were not considered for selection due to fitness problems.

The chief selector Wasim Bari who announced the team said that Saleem Elahi, Ijaz Ahmad, Mohammad Akram, Mushtaq Ahmad and Misbah-ul-Haq who toured New Zealand had been dropped from the side for various reasons.

The team is: Waqar Younis (captain),Inzamam-ul-Haq (vicecaptain), Imran Farhat, Saeed Anwar, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan, Abdur Razzaq, Humayun Farhat, ShoaibMalik, Saqlain Mushtaq, Mohammad Sami, Faisal Iqbal, Imran Nazir, Yasir Arafat and Kashif Raza.