Pakistan recalls Mahmood, three others
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan has recalled all-rounder Azhar Mahmood and three other players for this month's triangular one-day series in Australia while fast bowler Mohammad Sami has been ruled out by injury, the chief selector said Tuesday.
The 29-year-old Mahmood - who last played for Pakistan in New Zealand in 2003 - will join the Pakistan team in Australia, along with opening batsmen Mohammad Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar, and seamer Rao Iftikhar.
The three-country one-day tournament, which also features the West Indies, begins in Australia on Jan. 14, after the third and final Test match currently underway between Australia and a struggling Pakistan side.
Captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, who missed the last two Test matches due to a back injury, and Abdul Razzaq, who has suffered dizziness and breathing problems, have recovered and will be fit for the one-day series, PCB chief selector Wasim Bari told reporters.
"The team management has informed us (from Australia) that both the players are fit for one-day series," he said.
Sami, who injured his heel during the second Test in Melbourne, will return home along with Danish Kaneria, Imran Farhat, Asim Kamal and paceman Mohammad Asif.
Bari said the team management had refused his request for leg spinner Kaneria - who took seven wickets in a marathon spell in Australia's first innings in the third Test in Sydney - to be retained for the one-day series.
Kaneria is also expected to be a key weapon in Pakistan's efforts to avenge last year's Test and one-day series defeats against India on home soil.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced Tuesday that the Pakistan team in the third test would donate 25 per cent of its match fee to victims of the earthquake and tsunami that has killed around 150,000 in South Asia.