Mahmood and Umar return for Pakistan

Allrounder Azhar Mahmood and opening batsman Taufeeq Umar have returned to the Pakistan fold. Both have been recalled, among four players, for the upcoming VB Series, involving also Australia and the West Indies. Also coming into the squad are Mohammad Hafeez and Iftikhar Anjum.

Mahmood, a veteran of 134 matches, has an ODI batting average of 17.93 and bowling average of 38.10. Having played a couple of successful seasons with Surrey, Mahmood has not found a consistent spot in the Pakistan team for some time. His last game was against New Zealand early in 2004.

Taufeeq Umar (ODI batting 26.11) and Mohammad Hafeez (ODI batting 19.04, bowling 25.38) have found it equally hard to impress in their relatively brief careers. Both have had some success at international level, but the consistency in the limited overs game has not to manifested itself.

Rao Iftikhar Anjum is the lone specialist bowling addition to the squad. His medium-paced bowling has been steady at domestic level, but in his 2 One Day Internationals to date, he has taken just 1 wicket at the price of 73 runs in 15 overs.

Making room for the quartet are Mohammad Asif, Danish Kaneria, Asim Kamal, Mohammad Sami and Imran Farhat. Interestingly, the latter two have had more success in ODIs than Tests.

The VB Series starts on the 14th of January and Pakistan play their first game on the 16th.

Pakistan VB Series Squad:
Inzamam-ul-Haq (C), Kamran Akmal (wk), Salman Butt, Taufeeq Umar, Yasir Hameed, Mohammad Hafeez, Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood, Shoaib Akhtar, Naved-ul-Hasan, Mohammad Khalil, Iftikhar Anjum.

Posted by Liam