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Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been allowed by ICC to pick medium pacer Rao Iftikhar Anjum in place of injured Shoaib Akhtar in the 15-man squad for the next month's World Twenty20 Championship. The 33-year-old fast bowler, Akhtar has been dropped from the squad because of a skin infection. The Pakistani board requested the ICC to bring in Rao in his place following which the technical committee of the World Twenty20 Championship gave the green signal.
The 28-year-old medium pacer Rao Iftikhar Anjum has played for Pakistan in one Test and 58 ODIs apart from a Twenty20 International. Rao was also the part of Pakistan team that lost to India in the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa in 2007. However, Akhtar will be missing his fourth ICC event in the last three years. The controversial fast bowler could not participate in the 2006 Champions Trophy after he tested positive in a drug test.
In 2007, he missed the World Cup due to fitness problems. Later that year, the bowler was fined and suspended when he hit teammate Mohammad Asif with the bat. The incident prevented Akhtar from playing in the 2007 World Twenty20 event in South Africa. Pakistan is placed in Group B along with England and Netherlands for the Twenty20 tournament, which begins in England from June 5, 2009.
New T20 Squad Of Pakistan:
Younis Khan (captain), Salman Butt, Ahmed Shehzad, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Fawad Alam, Sohail Tanvir, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Shahzaib Hasan, Mohammad Aamir.
