Mohammad Asif returns to Tests

Dope-tainted pacer Mohammad Asif and opening batsman Imran Farhat will return to the Pakistan Test side after over two years in the first Test against New Zealand starting Tuesday in Dunedin....

Dope-tainted pacer Mohammad Asif and opening batsman Imran Farhat will return to the Pakistan Test side after over two years in the first Test against New Zealand starting Tuesday in Dunedin.

According to team sources,the playing XI for the first Test includes Asif and Farhat,with Salman Butt,middle order batsman Faisal Iqbal and leg-spinner Danish Kaneria certain to be left out. “Farhat will open with Khurrum Manzoor while Asif will be paired with Umar Gul and Muhammad Aamer,with Saeed Ajmal as the spinner,” a team source said.

Asif,who completed a 12-month ban for a doping offence last September and also spent 19 days in detention in Dubai in June last year for possession of small quantity of contraband,last played a Test against South Africa at Lahore in October 2007.

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He made a comeback to the Pakistan one-day squad in the Champions Trophy in September but played just one match against Australia in the tournament and was forced to sit out of the recent one-day series against New Zealand in the United Arab Emirates because of a ban on travelling to Dubai.

Farhat’s last Test appearance was also against South Africa,in January 2007,before he joined the rebel Indian Cricket League and was banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board from all cricket.

Sources said his half century in the three-day tour match won him the comeback,getting the nod over Salman Butt. The selectors have also decided to give Umar Akmal his first Test cap.

Team: Khurrum Manzoor,Imran Farhat,Fawad Alam,Mohammad Yousuf (captain),Shoaib Malik,Umar Akmal,Kamran Akmal,Muhammad Asif,Umar Gul,Muhammad Aamer and Saeed Ajmal.

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