Pak. hopes to get maximum points

By Rizwan Ehsan Ali

MULTAN, AUG. 28. Rival camps felt the absence of India as Pakistan and Bangladesh geared up for the opening match of the Asian Test Championship at a newly built Multan Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

The championship has lost its colour, said Bangladesh captain Naimur Rahman on the eve of his teams only fourth Test match since gaining Test status from the International Cricket Council last year.

Pakistan captain Waqar Younis was also disappointed at India's withdrawal from the four-team competition which also features Sri Lanka.

``The championship has lost its charm after India pulled its team, but we hope to get maximum points from this match,'' he said.

An outright victory would earn Waqar 12 victory points and if he manages to down Bangladesh by an innings margin it would fetch him an additional four points.

The teams:

Pakistan (from): Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, Saeed Anwar, Imran Nazir, Taufiq Umer, Younis Khan, Faisal Iqbal, Yousuf Youhana, Inzamam-ul Haq, Abdur Razzaq, Rashid Latif, Irfan Fazil, Danish Kaneria, Shoaib Malik, Naved Latif.

Bangladesh: Naimur Rahman (captain), Akram Khan, Aminul Islam, Enamul Haque, Habibul Bashar, Hasibul Hossain, Javed Omar, Khaled Masud, Monjural Islam, Mehrab Hossain, Ranjan Das and Al Shariar.

Umpires: Darrell Hair (Australia), Peter Manuel (Sri Lanka). Match referee: John Reid.

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Section  : Sport
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