da bet sport： Left-handed Shadab Kabir was guaranteed a place in theBangladesh-bound Pakistan team after Taufiq Umer became adoubtful starter, sources said
09-Dec-2001Left-handed Shadab Kabir was guaranteed a place in theBangladesh-bound Pakistan team after Taufiq Umer became adoubtful starter, sources said.Taufiq is down with a knee injury and there was a divisionin the opinion of the doctors.”The four doctors are divided in their opinion. Two say hewould regain fitness by the next couple of weeks while thetwo feel he will require more time,” sources said.Taufiq burst into international scene with a century ondebut against Bangladesh at Multan in the Asian TestChampionship match. “Whatever maybe the case, Shadab is acertainty for the tour,” sources said.Shadab aggregated 680 runs from 14 Patron’s Trophy inningsthat included two centuries and four half centuries.Twenty three-year-old Shadab, made his debut on thegruelling and demanding tour to England in 1996. Although hemade an impression, he failed to cement his place followinga string of low scores.”He is in-form and looks to have matured since he lastplayed for Pakistan. That’s the difference a few seasons indomestic circuit can do to a promising player,” sourcessaid.Sources further stated that if Taufiq failed to regainfitness in time, no third opener would be included.Taufiq’s injury might become a blessing in disguise forNaved Latif who stroked a century in only his second one-dayat Sharjah while playing as a make-shift opener. He will benamed in the middle-order who can be utilized to open theinnings in case either Saeed Anwar or Shadab struggle withfitness.The Pakistan cricket selectors will be naming a 15-man squadnext week for the two Tests. Changes will be made for thethree one-dayers that follow the Tests.After an initial round of discussions between the selectorsand team officials, consensus has been reached on differentteams for Tests and one-dayers. For example, Shahid Afridiand Azhar Mahmood will beef up the squad for the one-dayersbut will not be considered for Tests.Mohammad Sami, the injury-prone paceman, is said to bemaking recovery and was bowling in full throttle in thecamps. He is also certain to win back his place.Likely Test squad: Saeed Anwar, Shadab Kabir, FaisalIqbal, Inzamam-ul-Haq (vicecaptain), Yousuf Youhana,Younis Khan, Naved Latif, Rashid Latif (wicketkeeper), WaqarYounis (captain), Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar, Abdur Razzaq,Mohammad Sami, Danish Kaneria and Saqlain Mushtaq.