Mahmood and Taufeeq recalled for VB Series

Pakistan have recalled Azhar Mahmood and Taufeeq Umar to their squad for the VB Series, the triangular one-day tournament which also features Australia and West Indies. Mohammad Hafeez and Iftikhar Anjum have also been included, while Mohammad Sami, Danish Kaneria, Asim Kamal, Imran Farhat and Mohammad Asif will return home after the Test series.

Mahmood has been a star performer for Surrey over the last couple of seasons, but has struggled to make a permanent place for himself in the Pakistan team. He last appeared an ODI in 2003-04, when Pakistan toured New Zealand, and has played only 13 of them in the last two years. His return will be especially pleasing for Bob Woolmer, who has often spoken highly about Mahmood's allround ability.

Taufeeq and Hafeez, meanwhile, return after being dropped due to poor form. Taufeeq, a left-handed opener, was earlier seen as a Test specialist, but has slowly been part of the mix for the one-dayers as well - the last of his 18 one-dayers came against India at Lahore last year. Hafeez, an allrounder who bowls offspin, made an impressive start to his international career in a triangular tournament in Sharjah immediately after the 2003 World Cup, but was then dropped after a string of dismal performances.

A media release from the Pakistan board also announced that Inzamam-ul-Haq and Abdul Razzaq would be fit for the tournament. Both missed the ongoing Sydney Test - Inzamam failed to recover from a back injury while Razzaq was struck with a mystery ailment during the second Test at Melbourne.

The VB Series starts on January 14, while Pakistan play their first match against Australia a couple of days later.

Pakistan squad for the VB Series
Salman Butt, Taufeeq Umar, Yasir Hameed, Mohammad Hafeez, Yousuf Youhana, Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood, Kamran Akmal (wk), Shoaib Akhtar, Naved-ul-Hasan, Mohammad Khalil, Iftikhar Anjum.