An
untried but confident Pakistan arrived here Friday afternoon for the
first leg of their Caribbean tour promising an exciting brand of cricket
in the Twenty20 International and five One Day Internationals against
hosts West Indies.
Speaking
at a brief welcome ceremony, manager Intikhab Alam said while the unit
included several players who would be representing the Pakistan for the
first time, he expected them to play bold and attractive cricket.
"I
have brought a very young side with me and I am quite sure you are
going to enjoy the type of cricket we are going to play," Intikhab said.
The
side arrived at the Hewanorra International Airport south of here and
was met by officials of the St Lucia Cricket Association and series
sponsors Digicel and Scotiabank.
Pakistan
are missing four key players for the ODI leg of the tour with
wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Abdul Razzaq and Umar Gul all
left out for varying reasons.
Intikhab said Pakistan were looking forward to the tour as they held great respect for West Indies cricketing tradition.
"On
behalf of the Pakistan team I would like to thank you for the very warm
welcome extended to us," said the former Pakistan captain who played 47
Tests between 1959 and 1977.
"It
is always a pleasure to come to the Caribbean. I have been coming here
since 1958 and played with your great cricketers like Sir Garfield
Sobers, Rohan Kanhai, Clive Lloyd, (Sir Clyde) Walcott and (Sir Frank)
Worrell and I cherished their friendship.
"Whenever we met we talked about old times. I have great regard for your cricketers."
Pakistan
will open their tour with a limited overs affair against the UWI
Vice-Chancellor's XI at the Mindoo Philip Park here Monday.
SQUAD
-- Shahid Afridi (captain), Misbah-Ul-Haq, Ahmed Shahzad, Mohammad
Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Umar Akmal, Usman Salahuddin, Asad Shafiq, Hammad
Azman, Junaid Khan, Tanveer Ahmed, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Wahab
Riaz, Mohammad Salman, Sadaf Hussain.
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