Asia Cup squad: Selectors seek Irfan’s fitness status

Bowling coach Akram asked to give report on fast-bowler .

KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) selectors are in Rawalpindi to mull over the selection of players who will form the Asia Cup team; the event starts later this month in Bangladesh.

The committee is also assessing the performance of the players in the ongoing Faysal Bank T20 Cup with an eye on the World Twenty20 that will be played in March.

A detailed meeting between the selection committee and newly-appointed head coach Moin Khan and captain Misbahul Haq was to be held on Thursday, but has been postponed for a day.

However, according to an official close to the selection committee, the selectors held a meeting with bowling coach Mohammad Akram, in which the former pacer provided his input.

The official stated that Mohammad Irfan’s selection for the Asia Cup remained uncertain as selectors have yet to  fully ascertain his fitness.

“Akram has been asked to submit Irfan’s report,” the official told The Express Tribune.

“He is an automatic choice for selectors if he is fit and team management wants his participation keeping in mind conditions in Bangladesh.”

Irfan, who was injured in the last Twenty20 against South Africa, was made to go through a rehabilitation process under the team’s physiotherapist and trainer Dale Naylor in the UAE.

He played just two matches in the ongoing Faysal Bank Twenty20.

On another note, the official added that the selection of the wicket-keeper will be the other main agenda for the meeting.

Middle-order batsman Umar Akmal has been given the added responsibility in the last few series, but it is expected that Moin may vote for a specialist wicket-keeper.

“The selectors are satisfied with Akmal’s dual role, but the rest depends on the feedback from the team management.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2014.

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