Pakistan to play against President's XI today (11 February 1999)

11 February 1999

Pakistan to play against President's XI today

By Our Special Representative

KOCHI (India), Feb 10: Pakistan will be looking for some valuable batting practice ahead of the Asian Test Championship match against India when they face the President's Eleven in a three-dayer starting here from Thursday.

Poor form by the top order, barring Shahid Afridi, had contributed to Pakistan slide from 275 for four to 287 allout in the second innings at Chennai. At New Delhi, the woes continued when the tourists could score only 172 and 207.

In the four Test innings so far, Saeed Anwar has scored 101 runs (24, 7, 1, 69), Ijaz Ahmad 51 (13, 11, 17, 0), Inzamam-ul-Haq 93 (10, 51, 26, 6), Yousuf Youhana 92 (53, 26, 3, 0) and Salim Malik 86 (8, 32, 31, 15).

The bulk of the scoring from the top order has been done by flamboyant Shahid Afridi who has scores of 11, 141, 32 and 41.

"We definitely want that the top order should get some respectable scores here so that their confidence is restored ahead of the Calcutta match," Pakistan vice-captain Moin Khan, who is likely to lead the team in the absence of Wasim Akram, said.

Akram is expected to take rest from the match after suffering from a little groin problem he suffered in the final session of the Chennai Test which Pakistan won by 12 runs. Former captain Salim Malik is also likely to skip the game as he is suffering from a hamstring injury.

Malik's absence would mean a chance for either Wajahatullah Wasti or Mohammad Naveed Qureshi. Wajahatullah scored a pair in the three-day tour opener at Gwalior while Naved Qureshi has yet to get a chance despite scoring 32 in the only innings of the Lahore Test against Zimbabwe last year.

Although the team has not been named, prospects are that Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmad would also miss the match. Saqlain Mushtaq has nearly bowled 175 odd overs in the two Tests for his 20 wickets while Mushtaq Ahmad is still struggling with his knee and neck.

The duo are likely to be replaced by Shoaib Akhtar and Nadeem Khan. Team sources said Shoaib Akhtar was being played to give him an opportunity to tune himself for the Calcutta game where the wicket is said to be hard with little bit of grass on the top.

"The top order batsmen have no real confidence problems except that they have not scored big runs. But at New Delhi it was difficult for them because of the wicket which was not condusive for stroke-play," Moin Khan said.

The wicket-keeper said he was more interested to see the batsmen score runs rather than to go for victory. "Victory would be a bonus but if the batsmen start getting the ball in the centre for that bat, we would be more than satisfied. We have tasted victory here so we are not worried about that aspect," he said.

Moin Khan was not worried much about Saeed Anwar. "They way he batted in the second innings at New Delhi, it showed that he is now out of the lean period. He timed that ball (in the second innings) sweetly but a century would definitely do a lot for his confidence.

"You saw how Shahid Afridi played and it was chiefly because he had scored a century at Chennai. A century suddenly transforms you into a sparkling and more confident batsman," Moin, whose own form is below par, remarked.

The President's team include some bright cricketers who are knocking at the doors of international cricket, including Ratan Sukla (seamer), Gagan Khoda (opener), Virender Sehwag (all-rounder), Jai Prakash Yadav (all-rounder) and Rohan Gavaskar who is the son of illustrious Sunil Gavaskar.

Hrishikesh Kanitkar, who didn't play in the two Tests despite being the 14 along with Sukla, is the captain of the side which also includes two discarded Test bowlers Debashish Mohanty and Rabin Singh Junior.

Teams (to be selected from)

Pakistan - Saeed Anwar, Shahid Afridi, Ijaz Ahmad, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Mohammad Naveed Qureshi, Wajahatullah Wasti, Salim Malik, Moin Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Azhar Mahmood, Saqlain Mushtaq, Mushtaq Ahmad and Nadeem Khan.

President's eleven - Laxshmi Ratan Sukla, Gagan Khoda, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Virender Sehwag, Jai Prakash Yadav, Debashish Mohanty, Robin Singh Junior, Shiv Sunder Das, Mohammad Kaif, M.S.K Prasad (wicket-keeper), Murali Karthik, K.N Ananthapadmanabhan, Rohan Gavaskar, Hanumara Ramkishan, Peetinder Singh Sodhi.

Source :: Dawn (http://dawn.com/)

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