Date-stamped : 22 Apr97 - 14:23
21 April 1997

Injured Wasim released: Razzak, Husain going

Special Representative

COLOMBO, April 20: Wasim Akram was officially released by the
team management after the skipper declared himself unfit because
of a nagging shoulder injury.

"We have decided to release him after he informed us that he is
unlikely to be fit for the second Test," Nasimul Ghani, the tour
manager, said. "From Sunday, Wasim Akram is no more part of the
team though he is most welcome to stay in the hotel and travel
with the team to the ground if he wishes to," he added.

On another front, Waqar Younis, who fractured his third toe of
the left leg on Thursday, leaves for Karachi on way to Lahore by
Air Lanka flight later on Sunday evening.

Nasimul Ghani further stated that the PCB has confirmed to him
that young pacer Abdul Razzak and left-arm spinner Mohammad
Husain are coming to replace Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram. Both
the replacements are arriving here on Tuesday by PIA.

Sources said the team management had requested for Manzoor
Akhtar but like in the past, the plea was turned down by the
selectors sitting at home. Manzoor Akhtar is one of the prime
performers in the domestic circuit today. He has the ability to
bowl good leg-spinners besides being a specialist and reliable
batsman.

Sources emphasised that Manzoor also enjoyed a very strong
backing and support of Ramiz Raja who played an entire season
with him in the Allied Bank team.

Razzak, 20, played a one-dayer against Zimbabwe at Lahore and
also toured Sharjah with the Pakistan team for October's Sharjah
Cup. He, however, returned without playing a game.

Razzak, though may be raw at the international level, has a
couple of foreign tours with the Pakistan Under-19 under his
belt. The West Indies tour was one his most successful ones.

Mohammad Husain, 22, made his Test debut against Zimbabwe at
Faisalabad earlier this season. In that game, dominated by Wasim
Akram who took 10 wickets in the match, Husain bowled only 10
overs giving away 21 runs besides taking a wicket.

Mushtaq Mohammad, cricket manager, inquired about the reasons
for calling a pacer and a leg-spinner in place of Wasim and
Waqar, he said: "With Razzak coming, we will have three
genuinely quick bowlers. My observations about the second Test
venue (Singhalese Sports Club) is that it will also have a slow
turning track. Therefore, we decided that we should suggest for
a slow bowler who can also bat a bit." Reverting to injury of
Wasim Akram,in the first place he should not have been selected
for this tour if he was injured. It may be recalled that Akram
sustained a similar shoulder injury before the home series
against New Zealand which sidelined him for four weeks. If the
selectors picked him for this tour knowing the handicap Akram
had, they should take the responsibility otherwise the skipper
should be taken to task for not informing the selectors about
the bad shoulder he had.

As the situation stands in the first Test, there is only
Mohammad Wasim who is carrying the towels because both Akram and
Younis aren't fit to do the job. Mushtaq Mohammad was seen
sitting wearing the kit on Saturday and ready to go in the field
if two players decided to come out which was quite likely
because of the hot and humid conditions here. At one stage,
Mushtaq also went out to hand over the helmet which was needed
by a close-in fielder.

Wasim Akram, about his injury, said: "I was taking a chance to
be fit at least for the second Test. But the shoulder is very
bad. It is almost frozen because I can't move it. "I will take
the first available flight to England where I will consult a
specialist. I don't want to take injections because it is a
temporary relief. I want proper cure of it so that it doesn't
recur again. "My County (Lancashire) must be worried because by
this time they must know that I am unfit. I don't know how many
matches will I miss," said Akram.

Waqar Younis, who didn't come to the ground on Sunday despite
being here on crutches on Saturday, said he will leave for
England later this week."I will see the orthopaedic surgeon
there before deciding my future line of action. I think I will
miss five or six county games which I had to, in any case,
because I had to be in Sri Lanka for that period." Waqar said
his new county (Glamorgan), gave him permission only to play in
Sri Lanka. "I don't think I will be available till September.
It's my first season there and they are determined to finish
with flying colours."


Source::  Dawn (http://xiber.com/dawn/)

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