Related Link : World Cup 2007
Leg Spinner Danish Kaneria has earned a berth in the 15-man Pakistan World Cup Squad that was announced on Tuesday. Three players have been selected subject to their fitness. Shoaib Akhtar who fears that he might miss out playing due to a knee injury is one of those three players. The other two are Umar Gul and Mohammad Asif.
Opening batsman Imran Farhat has failed to make it due to his repeated failures in the recent series, his place has gone to right hander Imran Nazir. Left arm spinner Abdul Rehman has missed out as Pakistan decided to go for Danish Kaneria, the leg spinner. Kaneria despite being a strike bowler for his team ever since making his debut six seasons ago has got to play only 16 ODIs so far! There is no place for Azhar Mahmood, who was recalled into the side after two years.
Pakistan have named as many as five reserve players for the World Cup. Fast bowlers Mohammad Sami, Shahid Nazir, all rounder Azhar Mahmood, opener Salman Butt and wicket keeper, Zulqarnain Haider are the five reserve players named by the PCB. All the 15 players and the five reserve players would be subjected to dope tests after their arrival from South Africa. The results of the test are expected to come by March 1st. There are rumours that Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif might still contain some portions of the banned drug substance – nandrolone. Both these bowlers were banned by the PCB after the Champions Trophy but the bans were removed by the board. Shahid Afridi will be missing the first two matches of the World Cup due to the ban he is facing after his behavior with a fan during the 1st ODI against South Africa.
A training camp for the Pakistan Squad would begin on February 20th. They are placed in Group D that includes hosts West Indies and minnows – Zimbabwe and Ireland. Pakistan play the opening game of the World Cup, which is against the hosts at Jamaica on the 13th of March.
Pakistan WC Squad : Mohammad Hafeez, Younis Khan (Vice Captain), Mohammad Yousuf, Inzamam-ul-Haq (Captain), Kamran Akmal (WK), Yasir Arafat (Replaced Mohammad Asif), Azhar Mahmood (Replaced Abdul Razzaq), Naved-ul-Hasan, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Imran Nazir, Mohammad Sami (Replaced Shoaib Akhtar), Umar Gul, Iftikhar Anjum, Danish Kaneria