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Malik not in 16-man provisional one-day team

By Our Sports Reporter
3 November 1998



KARACHI, Nov 2: The Pakistan cricket selectors have dropped former captain Salim Malik from a provisional 16-man team for the three one-day internationals against Australia. The side would be announced on Tuesday.

Also ignored for the Nov 6, 8 and 10 one-day matches are Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saeed Anwar, Mushtaq Ahmad, Waqar Younis and Mohammad Zahid. All the five missed the International Cup because of injuries.

According to highly placed sources, Malik would also not be considered for selection in the home series against Zimbabwe after a run of bad scores and goatish behaviour.

In the three Tests, Malik scored 10, 52 not out and 49 in the first two Tests against Australia before earning a pair at Karachi. At Dhaka, he scored 16 after aggregating 163 runs in the Sahara Cup.

``If we have to try a youngster, this is the time. Salim Malik is out of form,'' sources said.

Informed sources said the selectors have included Hasan Raza in the place of 35-year-old Malik.

``He was pulled out from the Pakistan A team because we wanted to field him in the matches against Australia and Zimbabwe. He might not play against Australia but will remain a part of the side,'' sources added.

Azam Khan, a prolific domestic scorer, has also been recalled after playing his last international match two years ago. Kabir Khan, the left-arm seamer, has also been asked to join the training camp starting at Karachi from Wednesday.

Indications are that when the team is trimmed further on Tuesday morning, Aqib Javed might also lose his place. Sources say Aqib Javed was not played at Dhaka while the three pacers who would be in the lineup might be Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar and Azhar Mahmood.

``Question mark also hangs over Yousuf Yohanna. He might be replaced by Rawalpindi's Naveed Qureshi. Yohanna was in the Sahara Cup and Dhaka teams but was not played,'' sources said.

The likely 16 are:

Aamir Sohail (captain), Salim Elahi, Shahid Afridi, Ijaz Ahmad, Akhtar Sarfaraz, Hasan Raza, Naveed Qureshi/Yousuf Yohanna, Azam Khan, Moin Khan, Wasim Akram, Azhar Mahmood, Shoaib Akhtar, Aqib Javed/Mohammad Akram, Kabir Khan, Saqlain Mushtaq and Arshad Khan.


Source: Dawn
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