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What was Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)'s logic behind recalling a Test player, who had been out of contention for more than 19 months, for Friday's trial match in Lahore?

Ijaz Ahmed, who Wednesday pulled out of that game, reportedly declaring that he is not match fit, had suddenly become one of the hot contenders for the forthcoming tours of Zimbabwe and South Africa.

It was a complete U-turn since Ijaz Tuesday publicly said that he was fit to play.

It appears that Ijaz will now make a desperate attempt to get in the squad through back door to resurrect his international career which apparently ended in New Zealand earlier last year.

A lobby is already working to seek the approval of PCB chairman, Lt Gen Tauqir Zia, to reinstate Ijaz in the Pakistan side after the calamitous Test whitewash of Waqar Younis' men by the ruthless Australians.

Ijaz has done nothing of note to merit a comeback at the ripe old age of 34 and played 11 domestic one-day matches last season scoring 244 runs while skipping the first-class season altogether.

Worst still, Ijaz figured in mere two first-class matches in the 2000-01 home season for a meagre return of 22 runs. And how does Ijaz justify his appalling Test record against Zimbabwe and South Africa?

Against Zimbabwe, arguably the weakest side apart from Bangladesh, Ijaz has mustered 391 runs in eight Tests averaging 35.55 with four fifties.

Ijaz's statistics will hardly cause sleepless nights to Shaun Pollock's South Africans. In previous seven Tests against the Proteas, the right-hander has accumulated a staggering total of 138 runs at 12.55 per visit to the crease with a highest score of 34 at Johannesburg on the last tour in early 1998.

One sincerely hopes that Friday's match between PCB Reds and PCB Greens will be played only to assess the fitness of form of old guards like Wasim Akram, Saeed Anwar, Moin Khan and Yousuf Youhana - who were either absent or overlooked for the series against Australia.

Azhar Mahmood, who was named in Greens XI, has also opted out of the match at Gaddafi Stadium because he has not recovered from a shoulder injury. His place goes to Saleem Elahi while Ijaz has been replaced by Youhana.

However, the inclusion of Danish Kaneria in Greens XI is debatable since the leg-spinner is the only member of the Australian series to be asked to prove himself all over again. Is it some ploy on PCB's part to show the youngster the door.

Let's face it, Kaneria, like most of his team-mates, had a rough time in the two Sharjah Tests. But it must not be forgotten that odds were heavily stacked against Pakistan to perform miracle against probably the greatest modern day champion team that Steve Waugh has moulded in recent times.

Whoever picked the teams for this hurriedly arranged trial fixture has bypassed several young players who could have been invited by PCB.

Among those who deserved a look in are Fazle Akbar, the 22-year-old fast bowler from Peshawar who claimed the highest number of wickets - 95 - last season, and the promising Saeed bin Nasir.

Saeed, the 22-year-old right-hander from Karachi, scored 1162 runs in 17 matches last season. He also made an unbeaten 43 for Pakistan 'A' side in the final one-dayer against Sri Lanka 'A' at Lahore earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Tauqir, who has taken a fresh guard after his much-publicised resignation was overturned by President Pervez Musharraf in his capacity as PCB's patron-in-chief, met Waqar and coach Richard Pybus in Rawalpindi Wednesday morning and discussed the abject performance of Pakistan in the offshore 'home' series.

Waqar and Pybus apprised the PCB chief of what went wrong in the Tests at Colombo and Sharjah.

"Australia had top seven batsmen averaging in the 40s while two of their four bowlers shared nearly 870 wickets between them," the South African-based English coach informed the PCB boss.

"In contrast, Pakistan were young and still in learning stages. The boys had the talent and potential but it was their inexperience to handle the pressure that let them down," Pybus added.

Tauqir conveyed to both Waqar and Pybus that the team needs to improve its performance drastically and quickly on the pending tours before Pakistan head for South Africa and Zimbabwe for World Cup in late January.

PCB chairman also discussed the composition of the squad with the captain and coach and sought their views on its final make-up before forwarding their recommendations to the national selectors, who will announce the final 16 for the upcoming tours on Saturday.

© Dawn