RAWALPINDI: Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar looks set to resume his place on the Pakistan team after an absence of eight months following his naming in the 15-member Champions Trophy squad yesterday.
“Akhtar has been selected after we watched him in two trial matches last week,” Pakistan chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed said.
Akhtar, who last played for Pakistan in a Test match against India in December 2007, was originally included in a provisional list of 30 players for the Champions Trophy after a court last month suspended his 18-month ban for a disciplinary breach subject to an appeal.
Middle-order batsmen Bazid Khan and Khalid Latif were also included in the squad after the experienced Mohammad Yousuf decided to skip the biennial event as it coincided with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The squad includes four other pacemen — Rao Iftikhar, Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir and Abdur Rauf.
Wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal also returned to the side after selectors dropped him from the Asia Cup lineup due to poor form. Akhtar was banned for five years on April 1 by a Pakistan Cricket Board tribunal, which also imposed a 7 million rupee ($102,900) fine, for criticizing selectors.
The ban was later reduced to 18 months by the appellate tribunal of the PCB, and subsequently suspended by the Lahore High Court, pending an appeal scheduled to be hard in September.
The eight-nation Champions Trophy, featuring defending champion Australia, South Africa, England, New Zealand, West Indies, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, will be staged from Sept. 12-28.
Squad:
Shoaib Malik (captain), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Bazid Khan, Khalid Latif, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Rao Iftikhar, Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rauf.
