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Sohail, Malik out of Pak squad

Pakistan's national selectors on Sunday announced the country's shortlist of 19 players, from which the final squad for the World Cup will be named. Incidentally, Pakistan is the last of the participating nations to name its team.

The 19 member shortlist reads as under: Wasim Akram, Saeed Anwar, Shahid Afridi, Wajahatullah Wasti, Ejaz Ahmed, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Yohanna, Imran Nazir, Moin Khan, Waqar Younis, Azhar Mahmood, Abdul Razzak, Mohammad Wasim, Shoaib Akhter, Sajid Shah, Saqlain Mushtaq, Mushtaq Ahmed, Arshad Khan, Shahid Nazir.

The notable omissions from the squad were former captains Aamir Sohail and Salim Malik.

Within hours of the list being made public, Aamir Sohail was up in arms, openly alleging that his exclusion was the handiwork of vested interests.

Sohail alleged that the Pakistan Cricket Board had told him that if he wanted to play in the World Cup, he would have to drop his allegations of bribery, betting and match-fixing against Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram.

Sohail in fact specifically named Khalid Mahmood, chairman of the PCB, as the man who had held out the threat to him. ''The Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Khalid Mahmood asked me to drop allegations against Wasim Akram, which I am not ready to do,'' Sohail said. "I am here to fight a battle against corruption and if need be, I will sacrifice my career over that, but I will not budge an inch," Sohail, who has charged Akram and others with match fixing during his evidence before the Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum enquiry commission, said. Sohail has been absent from the national side since he refused to lead Pakistan in the second Test against Zimbabwe in December last.

Mahmood, who said Sohail's allegation was a 'serious matter' added, "I do not want to comment on it right now. It is very serious and I do not know what he has said but I will definitely look into it,'' the PCB chairman said.

Chairman of selectors and former wicket keeper Wasim Bari said Sohail was dropped because he has not played enough domestic matches to enable the selectors to assess his form.

The other notable omission, Salim Malik, was equally upset. ''We dropped Malik on his current form," said Bari. Interestingly, when asked about the retention of Waqar Younis despite a bad run of recent form, the chairman of selectors said, "Waqar was included for his experience in the English conditions.'' Interestingly, Waqar has been dropped for the squad for the Asian Test Championship finals in Dhaka and the one-day triangular series to follow, when Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka battle it out on Indian soil.

'This is the most disappointing moment of my life," said Malik. "I wished to play the 1999 World Cup and then announce my retirement.''

Malik, who has played in the 1983, 1987, 1992 and 1996 World Cups, has 7,053 runs at 33.11 with five centuries and 46 half centuries.

"I have always performed well in England," said Malik. "And I didn't play badly in India, but I suppose if they are bent on dropping me, there is nothing more to say."

Unlike Sohail, who figures in the role of accuser, Malik is one of the accused in the match-fixing and betting controversy currently under investigation in Pakistan.

"I guess it is not in my destiny to play in this World Cup," the disappointed middle order batsman said.

Agencies