Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul have been left out of Pakistan's 21-man shortlist for the ODI series against Zimbabwe which starts later this month. Shahid Afridi wasn't named either, but might yet make it to the squad if he does well for Patron's XI - which he will lead - against the Zimbabweans in a four-day game starting on Monday.
Shoaib and Gul broke down with fitness worries on the tour to India in 2007, which chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed said was the reason for not including them in the squad. "Akhtar and Gul will have to prove their fitness and that's why we did not consider them for selection in this probable list of 21," Ahmed was quoted by AFP.
Shoaib played all three Tests against India, but only in the first one was he fully fit. An illness before the Kolkata Test severely hampered his effectiveness, while he was troubled by back pain in Bangalore. Gul played the ODI series but was sent home before the Tests due to a back injury.
A number of new faces have been included in the squad as part of Pakistan's plans to test bench-strength against Zimbabwe before a challenging summer ahead. Anwar Ali, Pakistan's hero from the Under-19 World Cup in 2006, is included as well as Mansoor Amjad, the leg-spinning all rounder with two seasons for Leicestershire behind him. Shadab Kabir, who last played an ODI for Pakistan over ten years ago, also makes the squad after scoring 791 runs in the recently-concluded Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.
Afridi, meanwhile, has been left out of the provisional squad due to poor form. He played four ODIs on the tour to India, but only scored 73 runs and took two wickets, and was omitted from the Test team. However, Ahmed told Cricinfo that Afridi might make it into the final 16-member squad for the first three ODIs. The 21 players named here and 15 from the Patron's XI will be in the reckoning for the final squad.
Zimbabwe start their tour with the game against Patron's XI, while the first of five ODIs will be played in Karachi on January 21.
Zimbabwe squad captainP Utseya, GB Brent, CJ Chibhabha, E Chigumbura, KM Dabengwa, T Maruma, H Masakadza, S Matsikenyeri, CB Mpofu, T Mupariwa, RW Price, V Sibanda, wicketkeeperT Taibu, wicketkeeperBRM Taylor, SC Williams
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The highest individual score for Pakistan v Zimbabwe is 160 by Imran Nazir at Kingston in 2007. The highest individual score for Zimbabwe v Pakistan is 105* by Grant Flower at Harare in 2002. The best bowling performance for Pakistan v Zimbabwe is 5-15 by Wasim Akram at Karachi in 1993. The best bowling performance for Zimbabwe v Pakistan is 4-18 by Heath Streak at Sharjah in 1997
Zimbabwe - 1 Vusi Sibanda, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 4 Brendan Taylor, 5 Sean Williams, 6 Brendan Taylor, 7 Prosper Utseya (capt),8 Ray Price, 9 Chamu Chigumbura, 10 Christopher Mpofu, 11 Elton Chigumbura
0.6 Mpofu to Nasir Jamshed, 2 runs 0.5 Mpofu to Nasir Jamshed, no run 0.4 Mpofu to Nasir Jamshed, FOUR, full and side outside the off stump, Jamshed leans forward and drives through the covers 0.3 Mpofu to Nasir Jamshed, FOUR, streaky, pitches on off and middle, slices Jamshed is sliced in half, he doesn't move his feet much and he gets a thin french cut that beats the stumps and rolls to fine leg Jamshed to face his first ball in international cricket 0.2 Mpofu to Salman Butt, 1 run, pakistan are underway, slides down leg and Butt trickles it down to fine leg 0.1 Mpofu to Salman Butt, no run, full and coming in to the left hander just outside off, pushed to point Right, we're just ready to start. Mpofu to start off to Butt
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Pakistan got an inning of 347 for 5 wickets.
Salman Butt at 4 Nasir Jamshaid at 61 Younas Khan at 79 Muhammad Yousaf at 73 Shoaib Malik at 69 Misbah-ul-Haq at 56* Shahid Afridi at 4*
CB Mpofu 72 runs in 10 overs for no wickets E Chigumbura 43 runs in 7 overs for no wicket CJ Chibhabha 78 runs in 7 overs for 2 wickets H Masakadza 8 runss in 2 overs for no wickets RW Price 62 runs in 10 overs for 2 wickets P Utseya 46 runs in 5 overs for no wickets SC Williams 36 runs in 6 overs for no wickets
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2nd ODI Zimbabwe will bat first
Pakistan - Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Mohammed Yousuf, Shoaib Malik (capt), Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal (wk), Sohail Tanvir, Samiullah Niazi, Rao Iftikhar Anjum
Zimbabwe - 1 Vusi Sibanda, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 4 Brendan Taylor, 5 Sean Williams, 6 Brendan Taylor, 7 Chamu Chibhabha, 8 Prosper Utseya (capt),9 Ray Price, 10 Gary Brent, 11 Elton Chigumbura
Teams: Pakistan are unchanged from the previous game while Zimbabwe have made the one change, bringing in medium pacer Gary Brent for Christopher Mpofu.
