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Akram in Pakistan squad for Sri Lanka

Ace allrounder and former captain Wasim Akram has been named in Pakistan's 17-member squad for Sri Lanka after earlier saying he was unavailable, the Pakistan Cricket Board said Tuesday.

Moin Khan will lead the team which will play three Tests from June 14 and will feature in a limited overs tri-nation tournament in Sri Lanka also involving South Africa.

The 34-year-old Akram was fined in Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum's report on match-fixing and lost his job as a television commentator for Britain's Channel Four.

"Wasim Akram initially told us that he was not available for the tour but now since he is not going to England he decided to tour Sri Lanka," chief selector Wasim Bari said.

"He is in form and will play a key role in Pakistan's team as he has done in the past," Bari said.

Akram needs two more wickets to become only the fourth bowler to take 400 or more wickets in Tests.

Leg spinner Mushtaq Ahmed and pacer Waqar Younis -- both fined in the match-fixing report -- and batsman Younis Khan staged a comeback after being rested for the Asia Cup in Dhaka.

All-rounder Shahid Afridi may be included for the one-day tournament in July.

Qaiser Abbas is the only uncapped player in the squad. Abbas, 19, a left-handed batsman and slow left-arm spinner, is described as "the most sensational find" of the last domestic season.

Express speedster Shoaib Akhtar and off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq will miss the tour because of their commitments in the English season.

The squad: Moin Khan (captain), Inzamam-ul-Haq (vice-captain), Saeed Anwar, Imran Nazir, Muhammad Wasim, Yousuf Youhanna, Abdur Razzak, Wasim Akram, Azhar Mahmood, Arshad Khan, Shaoib Malik, Mushtaq Ahmed, Muhammad Akram, Waqar Younis, Qaiser Abbas, Younis Khan and Shabbir Ahmed.

Coach: Javed Miandad. Manager: Mohammad Nasir.