Afridi, Faisal to play, Yousuf to skip 4th ODI

MULTAN—A spate of absences for Pakistan’s fourth ODI in Multan has resulted in a recall for Shahid Afridi. Pakistan will be without Mohammad Yousuf, who will stay in Lahore to be with his wife, and Younis Khan, whose brother recently passed away. The third component of their impressive middle order, captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, is also a doubt for the game after injuring his hand during the third ODI at Lahore.
Afridi was dropped after the Champions Trophy, the first time in two years for anything other than an injury or suspension. But he has struck a rich vein of form in domestic cricket for Habib Bank and lies third in the bowling averages after five games with 22 wickets at an average of under ten. And despite starting poorly with the bat, he has just hit a 91-ball hundred in the ongoing game against WAPDA, whose attack includes Mushtaq Ahmed and Shabbir Ahmed. He scored a fifty in a low-scoring first-innings total and also picked up three wickets.
Faisal Iqbal, the middle-order batsman, has also been called up as cover for Inzamam who injured the little finger of his left hand when he dived at cover to stop a full-blooded aerial drive from Marlon Samuels during the third match at Lahore and received three stitches.
“Inzamam is recovering from his injury and as a precaution we have included Iqbal in the 15-man squad in case we need him in batting,” Wasim Bari, Pakistan’s chief selector, told reporters.
Iqbal, 24, has played 17 Tests and ODIs for Pakistan, with a hundred in each form of the game. Though he last played a Test against England this summer - he hit an unbeaten 58 in Pakistan’s only innings of the controversial Oval Test - he has not featured in ODI colours since October 2003.
Bari added that Younis Khan, Pakistan’s vice-captain, would miss another match but might feature in the fifth match to be played on December 16 at Karachi. The potential absence of the trio means Pakistan will have to announce a new captain for the fourth ODI as well. Younis is the official vice-captain and Yousuf has taken over on the odd occasion, but with none available, it is thought Abdul Razzaq might be chosen. A final decision is expected tomorrow.
Pakistan lead the five-match series 2-0 after the first match was washed out due to rain at Rawalpindi.—Agencies