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Shoaib, Sami return for India match
November 01, 2004 20:30 IST
Fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Muhammad Sami have been included in a 15-member Pakistan squad for the one-off limited overs international against India in Kolkata on November 13.
Chief selector Wasim Bari said on Monday that both the bowlers who missed the second Test six-wicket win over Sri Lanka due to injuries had been passed fit.
Sami was out with a groin injury and Shoaib had withdrawn with a shoulder problem.
Pakistan are playing the one-day international to celebrate the 75 years of the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) in India.
"Shoaib and Sami are our main strike bowlers and they are okay now and have been declared fit. We are taking this game against India seriously," Bari said.
"We want to field our best attack."
The selectors have dropped batsman Yasir Hameed after a string of low scores and included the uncapped batsman Aamer Bashir who has scored four hundreds in the domestic season.
Also recalled are all rounder Shahid Afridi and opener Taufiq Umar who were not played in the tied two-Test series against Sri Lanka.
Yasir has been dropped for the first time since making his debut last year in August against Bangladesh and playing 44 consecutive ODIs and 12 tests.
Pakistan will be touring India for the first time since early 1999 when they went there to play three Tests and a triangular one-day tournament.
India broke the ice in the cricket relations between the two countries, which had been suspended since early 2000, when they toured Pakistan this year for a full tour.
Pakistan squad: Imran Farhat, Taufiq Umar, Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Rana Naved, Shoaib Malik, Salman Butt, Shoaib Akhtar, Muhammad Sami, Riaz Afridi, Aamer Bashir.