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Faisal Iqbal has been selected as non-playing member of the Pakistan team that will participate in next month's triangular one-day tournament in Sharjah.

Team officials confirmed that Faisal had been picked as 16th player for the Sharjah Cup to be played between April 8 and 17. "We have submitted a squad of 15 to the organizers. Faisal Iqbal is not in 15 but he is going as Pakistan player on Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) expenses," team coach Mudassar Nazar said Thursday.

Participating teams have been restricted to field only 15 players in tournaments involving more than two teams. In 1999, Waqar Younis was not named in the 15-man squad though he was with the team that had to proceed to Australia from the desert city.

Faisal, 20, was included Sunday in the Pakistan team, at least two hours after the cricket board had named the squad. Mudassar defended the exclusion of Faisal from the playing squad while at the same time tried to justify the inclusion of Misbah-ul-Haq.

"Misbah has been scoring in the last couple of years," he explained. But he remained mum when pointed out that the 27-year-old had scored in four-day cricket and not in limited overs cricket.

"Faisal has been kept with the team because he has been with us for sometime. Besides, we are also looking forward to the home series against New Zealand," he argued.

The chairman of Pakistan cricket selectors Wasim Bari refused to comment on the issue after he was Wednesday quoted as saying that he was unaware how Faisal was named in the squad.

Pakistan take on New Zealand between April 21 and May 12 during which two Tests and three One-day Internationals will be played.

Ironically, Misbah was discarded after what can be described as a reasonably successful tour to New Zealand last year when five frontline players returned home because of various injuries. The experts had declared Misbah as unworthy of international cricket.

So much so, when Misbah scored heavily in Sri Lanka with Pakistan 'A' team and also saved a game with a solo effort, he was not considered as the experts and selectors remained adamant that he was not an international standard material. But the sudden change in heart and that too at the expense of Faisal Iqbal remains mystery.

Faisal, who is perhaps one of the finest fielders in the current squad, scored consistently in both the forms of the game. In the ongoing one-day tournament, he batted in the middle to score a half-century and a score of around 35 while he struck 78 and a century while opening the innings.

Pakistan has been struggling of late to find a reliable opening pair. In that process, the team management has tried almost all players but when it came to Faisal, he was included in the team solely as a tourist.

© Dawn