KARACHI, SEPT 25: All-rounder Wasim Akram, who was recently implicated by a probe committee in match-fixing and bribery, is among the 18 probables along with speedster Waqar Younis for Pakistan's home series against Australia.All the 14 members of the team, which beat India 4-1 to lift the Sahara Cup in Toronto, figure among the probables, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced today.
Left-arm leg-spinner Mohammed Hussain and paceman Shoaib Akhtar, who were members of Pakistan's Commonwealth Games cricket squad, are also among the probables.
Akram, who could not play in the Sahara Cup series due to his county engagements, had announced his retirement from cricket after he was implicated along with Salim Malik and Ijaz Ahmed in the interim report of a PCB panel probing allegations of bribery and match-fixing, but declared his availability a couple of days later.
Akram had declared that he would not return to international cricket until his name was cleared.
However, he reversed his decision when PCBchief Khalid Mahmood described the leaking of the interim report to the press as ``motivated'' and promised to defend the players until they were proved guilty. A judicial committee is now looking into the matter.
The 18 probables: Aamir Sohail, Saeed Anwar, Shahid Afridi, Inzama-ul-Haque, Salim Malik, Ijaz Ahmed, Moin Khan, Yousuf Youhana, Abdur Razzaq, Saqlain Mushtaq, Muhammad Hussain, Mushtaq Ahmed, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed, Azhar Mahmood, Muhammad Zahid and Shoaib Akhtar.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.