By SS
August 5 2003

Aamir Sohail and his selectors announced their list of 20 probables today. Some of the old guard have returned and there were also quite a few new faces included. The selectors today announced a squad of 20 probables for the 3 test series against Bangladesh, due to commence later this month.

The biggest and best news for Pakistani fans will be the return of Inzamam ul Haq, who has at the age of 33 been given the opportunity to kickstart his career after a nightmare World Cup in South Africa. Inzamam will provide much needed experience to a squad missing Mohammed Sami, Younis Khan and Saqlain Mushtaq.

New names include Abdul Sattar who is a total unknown and is not even on Cricinfos database, Jaffer Nazir a 25 year old fast medium bowler who represents KRL, Farhan Adil a 25 year old right handed batsman from Karachi who has a decent domestic record, Najaf Shah an 18 year old left arm medium fast bowler whose domestic record is nothing special and Muhammed Khalil an all rounder from Lahore who has only played 6 first class matches.

Obviously some of the abovementioned will not make the final squad, but it gives them an opportunity to receive some advice from Javed Miandad and watch and train with the likes of Inzamam ul Haq.

Another welcome name in the squad sees the return to the international scene of teenage prodigy Hasan Raza, who promised so much, but did not quite live up to the hype and potential. Still only 21, Hasan must grasp this opportunity with both hands and make sure that ill discipline once again does not affect his performance.

The batting seems to have a fairly methodical look about it, with genuine solid players being preferred over the flashy and unpredictable players such as Afridi and Imran Nazir. Hafeez, Taufeeq, Yasir Hameed, Yousuf Youhana and Inzamam will probably be the top 5.

The bowling seems a bit too reliant on Shoaib Akhtar and Danish Kaneria, with a lot of inexperienced bowlers being included in the squad. The bowling to me, like the rest of the squad seems to lack a bit of flair with the essence of the squad being on reliability rather than excitement.

One thing of note is the decision of Saqlain to once again choose his county over his country. This is a worrying situation and one Saqlain needs to think long and hard about.
The squad will go into a training camp in Lahore from 9-16 August, before the start of the first of the three Tests on 20 August in Karachi.