Daily Times

LAHORE: Pakistan’s two senior players Misbahul Haq and Younus Khan are part of a short national training camp that commenced at the Gaddafi Stadium here Wednesday. There are also 11 other players in the camp for the upcoming Test series against West Indies in West Indies. Younus, who has played 115 Tests, needs only 23 runs to become the first Pakistan player to have scored 10,000 runs in Test cricket. As he has to play three matches against the West Indies, it is most likely that he will achieve the landmark. On the other hand, Misbah, the most successful Test captain for Pakistan, is just 49 runs away from 5,000 runs in Test cricket. He is a veteran of 72 matches and may call it a day after the Caribbean tour. Azhar Ali, who lost his place in the ODI side and its captaincy, is also among the players. He has so far scored 4,707 runs in 57 Tests, averaging 47.07. Sami Aslam and Shan Masoood are the other two openers, besides Azhar, who are invited for the camp.

Middle-order batsman Usman Salahuddin, a forgotten prospect of Pakistan cricket, again found his name in the list of Test probables after playing only two ODI against the West Indies some six years back. Asad Shafiq, a prolific Test batsman, who has played a good number of vital innings for Pakistan and is also looking for a place in the ODI team, is also attending the camp. Eminent spinner Yasir Shah is in the camp.

Sohail Khan, who was declared the best bowler of the last Pakistan Super League but was not selected in T20 and ODI teams for the West Indies series, has now been called for the camp. The bowler has no prominent performance in the longer version of the game as he has claimed 27 wickets at an average of 41.66 in nine Test matches. Another Test fast bowler Rahat Ali and an emerging right-arm fast bowler Mohammad Abbas are in the camp. Abbas has shown good performances in domestic seasons. He has played 57 first-class matches and took 244 wickets at an average of 22.45.

A left-arm spinner Khalid Usman and little known Asad Raza are also part of the camp players. The camp will end on April 7 and later the Pakistan squad for three Test matches against the West Indies, starting on April 22, will be announced.

Camp players: Sami Aslam, Azhar Ali, Shan Masood, Younus Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Asad Shafiq, Usman Salahuddin, Yasir Shah, Sohail Khan, Rahat Ali, Mohammad Abbas, Asad Raza, Khalid Usman.