One-day cricket specialists Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Husain left here for Johannesburg on way to Harare to bolster the Pakistan cricket team for the final leg of the African tour involving limited overs games.
Pakistan, after playing back-to-back one-dayers in Zimbabwe on March 28 and 30, will return to South Africa for the tri-series involving world champions Sri Lanka besides the hosts. The tournament, to be played on triple league, will be held between April 3 and 21.
Out of the 17 cricketers presently in the Zimbabwean capital, four will be returning home after the conclusion of the ongoing second Test. The four include leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmad, opener Ali Naqvi and pacemen Mohammad Akram and Fazl-i-Akbar.
The decision to fly the specialist one-day cricketers was taken on Tuesday afternoon with the consent of the two selectors Zaheer Abbas and Shafiq Ahmad. The two players will reach Harare at 1835 hours (PST) on Wednesday.
The decision to release Mushtaq Ahmad was taken on the request of the leggie himself who is struggling with knee injury. Akram would be returning without playing a game while Ali Naqvi failed to impress in the two Tests against Zimbabwe.
Fazl-i-Akbar, who was sent as replacement after two Pakistan players were mugged outside the Johannesburg hotel prior to the start of the first Test last month, picked up three wickets in the two Tests he played in South Africa.
According to PCB sources, Mohammad Wasim was among the four cricketers who were to be released. However, his magnificent 192 forced the team management as well as the selectors here to change their minds.
Afridi, 18, who holds the world record of quickest century in 37 balls, has represented Pakistan in 56 one-dayers scoring 1,239 runs at 24.29 with a century and seven half centuries. With the leader, he has picked 37 wickets at 50.10.
Mohammad Husain, 21, has appeared in seven one-day internationals in which he has scored 53 runs and has picked nine wickets.
Team: Rashid Latif (captain), Aamir Sohail (vice-captain) Saeed Anwar, Ijaz Ahmad, Inzamamul Haq, Moin Khan, Mohammad Wasim, Yousuf Yohanna, Azhar Mahmood, Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar, Waqar Younis, Shahid Afridi, Saqlain Mushtaq and Mohammad Husain.
The following is Pakistan's one-day programme after the conclusion of the ongoing Test:
March 28: First one-dayer against Zimbabwe at Harare
March 30: Second one-day against Zimbabwe at Harare
April 3: Pakistan v South Africa at Durban
April 5: South Africa v Sri Lanka at Johannesburg
April 7: Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Kimberley
April 9: Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Paarl
April 11: Pakistan v South Africa at East London
April 13: South Africa v Sri Lanka at Port Elizabeth
April 15: Sri Lanka v Pakistan at Centurion Park.
April 17: Pakistan v South Africa at Benoni
April 19: South Africa v Sri Lanka at Bloemfontien
April 21: Final at Cape Town.