Farhat sent home while Afridi , Nazir called up …

Opener Imran Farhat is the fifth player who has been not considered for the forthcoming Twenty20 match and the five One-day Internationals against South Africa.

At the start of the third Test at Cape Town, the selectors had axed four players – Shahid Nazir, Asim Kamal, Faisal Iqbal and Danish Kaneria – while announcing the team for the shorter-version of the game, starting from Feb 2, but pending one more change from the Test playing squad till the end of the third Test.

It was expected the selectors will give rest to wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal, due to his poor run with the gloves in the series, but the axe fell on Imran.

"It’s a unanimous decision taken by the selectors and the team management," chief selector Wasim Bari told Dawn.

"Though Kamran needs rest because it always helps a player regain form, but he has been retained as the first-choice wicket-keeper," he said.

Meanwhile, all five players left to join the Pakistan team in South Africa for the ODI series. Imran Nazir, Shabbir Ahmed, Abdul Razzaq and Abdur Rehman left from Lahore while Shahid Afridi was to leave from Karachi.

In the meantime, Shoaib Akhtar has been given a 10-day rest for recovering from his hamstring injury examined by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Medical Commission on Monday.

Shoaib, who left back home from South Africa last week due to injury appeared, before the commission, which found that his hamstring problem wasn’t serious, advised him to rest for 10 days for a complete recovery before the World Cup.

Meanwhile, unfit pacer Umar Gul will report to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) on Wednesday to start the rehabilitation process of his ankle.