Asif in, Shoaib out of South Africa tour
By Asghar Ali Mubarak

ISLAMABAD—Shoaib Akhter was left out while fellow fast bowler Muhammad Asif was enlisted in the 17-member Pakistan cricket team named Friday for the upcoming three-Test series in South Africa.
Another fast bowler Shabbir Ahmed was also ignored by the National Selection Committee of Pakistan Cricket Board. All three were among the probables who attended a training camp in preparation for the tour to South Africa. The squad for the five One-Dayers which will follow the three Tests will be announced later.
Shoaib Akhter and Muhammad Asif were included among the probables after an appellate tribunal lifted a ban imposed earlier by a PCB committee on charges of using banned drug nandrolone--a performance enhancing substance. The appellate tribunal, headed by Justice (r) Fakharuddin G. Ibrahim, totally quashed the two and one year bans on Shoaib and Asif respectively on the grounds that they had unintentionally taken the substances with nutritional substances and had not been properly guided about the doping.
The bowling action of Shabbir Ahmed, whose one year ban on suspect action ended on December 18, was cleared by bio-mechanic experts of University of Western Australia at Perth. Inzamamul Haq will lead the 17-member team for the Test rubber in South Africa with Younis Khan to remain his deputy. The squad includes two wicketkeepers in Kamran Akmal and Zulqarnain Haider.
The 17-member squad consists of Imran Farhat, Muhammad Hafeez, Younis Khan (Vice Captain), Muhammad Yousaf, Inzamam-ul-Haq (Captain), Faisal Iqbal, Kamran Akmal (Wicketkeeper), Danish Kaneria, Umar Gul, Muhammad Sami, Muhammad Asif, Shahid Nazir, Yasir Hameed, Asim Kamal, Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan, Shoaib Malik and Zulqarnain Haider (Wicketkeeper). Talat Ali will be the manager and Bob Woolmer the coach of the South Africa-bound team.
Agencies Add: Pace bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Shabbir Ahmed were overlooked but Mohammed Asif was included in the 17-man squad announced on Friday for the upcoming test series against South Africa. "Both Shoaib and Shabbir have failed to prove match fitness and that is why they were not selected", said Ihteshamu-ud-Din, a member of the selection committee at a news conference here on Friday. "They can stage a comeback for the One-day series after showing good performance in the Quaid-I-Azam Trophy, starting from Jan 6", he said.
Shoaib was exonerated from a doping charges last month and he was included in the 25 members of probables who were attended the training camp for the tour. Shabbir Ahmed, who has only recently returned from an ICC-imposed ban for a suspect action, was also not selected.
"Shabbir failed to impress the selectors in the training camp and in the Twenty20 Cup, therefore, he was not selected", he maintained. He said with the return of Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Sami the sting of Pakistan bowling had returned back. He said the second wicketkeeper was selected in Zulqernain Haider, the 20-year-old from Lahore, to release some pressure from Kamran Akmal.