Akhtar, Asif to attend coaching camp

Lahore, May 13 (UNI) Pakistan's newly appointed vice-captain Mohammad Asif and pace spearhead Shoaib Akhtar will be among the team of 22 fast bowlers and 13 openers participating in a specialisation coaching camp to be conducted at National Cricket Academy here from May 16 to June 3.

Mudassar Nazar, PCB director game development, Aaqib Javed, chief coach of academies and former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram will directly supervise the camp.

Describing the camp as an efforts for the development of cricket, Mudassar told Dawn, ''As a first step towards this programme, Specialisation Coaching Camp for fast bowlers and opening batsmen has been scheduled from May 16.'' The selection had been done in consultation with the national selection committee, he added.

Mudassar further informed the players, who would be playing the Abu Dhabi series against Sri Lanka from May 18 to 22 would join the camp from May 25.

Regarding fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar or Asif's inclusion in the camp, Mudassar said it would help both of them to further hone their skills. Moreover, Shoaib would get a chance to concentrate on his fitness during the camp training.

Both Asif and Akhtar could not make it to the World Cup squad due to ''injury problems''.

Meanwhile, Imran Farhat, who had been fined by the board for his indiscipline code of conduct, has also been included in the camp along with openers Salman Butt, Imran Nazir, Mohammad Hafeez.

Mudassar said the players, who had to visit Abu Dhabi to play a three-match series against Sri Lanka from May 18 to 22 would join the camp from May 25.

Players: Fast bowlers: Shoaib Akhtar (Islamabad), Mohammad Asif (Sialkot), Umer Gul (Peshawar), Mohammad Sami (Karachi), Rao Iftikhar (Islamabad), Najaf Shah (Rawalpindi), Abdul Rauf (Multan), Mohammad Irshad (Multan), Mohammad Khalil (Lahore), Junaid Zia (Lahore), Uzair-ul-Haq (Karachi), Anwar Ali (Karachi), Kashif Daud (Sialkot), Shakil-ur-Rehman (Peshawar), Mohammad Amir (Rawalpindi), Rahat Ullah (Peshawar), Akhtar Ayub (Rawalpindi), Jamshed Ahmed (Lahore), Farhan Ayub (Hyderabad), Wahab Riaz (Lahore), Sohail Tanveer (Rawalpindi), Mohammad Junaid Khan (Abbotabad).

Openers: Salman Butt (Lahore), Imran Nazir (Sialkot), Mohammad Hafeez (Faisalabad), Imran Farhat (Lahore), Khurram Manzoor (Karachi), Babar Naeem (Rawalpindi), Khalid Latif (Karachi), Shan Masood (Karachi), Agha Sabir (Karachi), Wajid Ali (Abbotabad), Nasir Jamshed (Lahore), Ahmed Shahzad (Lahore), Asif Zakir (Karachi).

UNI