Pakistan's speed merchant Shoaib Akhtar has been asked to prove his "match
fitness" to be eligible for selection for the one-off ODI against
India in Scotland next month.
Akhtar, who has not played a competitive match in the past 14 months due to fitness
problems, was today included in a provisional squad of 20 that would be subsequently
trimmed down.
Chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed said that any player who found to be
short on fitness would not be considered.
"Shoaib is back because he has been training hard and
working overtime on his fitness. But we still need to see his match fitness.
No player including Shoaib would be considered for the matches if he is not
100 per cent fit," Salahuddin said.
Although the match against India is a charity affair for the
Prince Charles fund, Salahuddin said the fixture was being taken with all seriousness
due to India being the opponent.
"The match is likely to be televised live and when we
play India the people expect a top effort from our players," he said.
The 20 players will undergo a training camp from June 10 in Abbotabad.
Akhtar was last month withdrawn from the Asian squad
for the Afro Asia Cup because he was not fully fit. He also missed the
one-day series against Abu Dhabi in April.
He has not played a match since being failing a dope test prior
to the ICC Champions Trophy.
The probables: Shoaib Malik, Imran Nazir, Mohammad Hafeez,
Naved Latif, Salman Butt, Yasir Hameed, Misbah-ul-Haq, Faisal Iqbal, Asim Kamal,
Mohammad Yousuf, Fawad Alam, Kamran Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad
Sami, Shoaib Akhtar, Rao Iftikhar, Mohammad Asif, Najaf Shah, Umar Gul.
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