ICC turns down Pakistan request to delay naming squad

KARACHI, Feb 10 (Reuters) The International Cricket Council (ICC) has rejected a request by the Pakistan Cricket Board to put back the deadline for naming their World Cup squad, a PCB official told Reuters today.

However, due to an increasing number of injury problems, the PCB has filed a second request to delay the naming of their final 15-member squad, which is due to be submitted on February 13 along with all other participating teams.

''Our first request was turned down and the ICC said if we had any injury problems, we could ask for replacements from the World Cup technical committee as per the rules,'' PCB director of cricket operations Saleem Altaf said.

Altaf said he had informed the ICC that it was difficult for Pakistan to name a final squad on time as the team returned from South Africa on February 16 and it would not be clear which players were fit.

Pakistan has fitness concerns over pace bowlers Shoaib Akhtar, Shabbir Ahmed, Umar Gul and Mohammad Sami.

REUTERS PDS ND1744