According to sources in the PCB secretariat, the selectors would finalize the 14-man team for the Canadian series around Aug 22 from the tentative team they prepared on July 28 - the day they finalized the Commonwealth Games side.
Informed sources said Malik and Younis received contrasting favours from the selectors purely on their performance. Malik, who has scored 6,884 runs in 268 one-dayers, proved that he was not a spent force yet when he accumulated 395 runs from seven National One-day Championship innings. On the first-class scene, he scored 414 runs at 34.50 with a top score of 124.
On the contrary, Younis received harsh treatment in the one-dayers on African safari. He conceded more than run-a-ball in six matches which saw him concede 347 runs (from 336 balls) and take seven wickets.
In the last season, Younis played 15 matches in which he picked up 16 wickets at 45.87. His economy rate was 5.47.
However, he is the second most successful Pakistan bowler in one-dayers after Wasim Akram. He has taken 281 wickets in 171 matches.
Malik's last Test innings was against Sri Lanka in which he scored 155 to engineer a draw for Pakistan. Sahara Cup was his last one-day tournament in which he scored 132 runs but was later dropped because of 'attitude problem.'
Malik's return to the national team would largely depend on the interim report of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) probe committee which is investigating the charges of match-fixing and betting. The committee is expected to hold a final meeting on Aug 15 to record the statements of Salim Malik, Ijaz Ahmad and Inzamamul Haq who failed to reach Quetta on Aug 2 after missing the flight.
In the light of that report, the cricket board would direct the selectors which of the players were not available for selection. As the situation stood on July 28, the authorities had told the selectors to consider every player.
The three-member selection committee have also retained both the frontline wicketkeepers Rashid Latif and Moin Khan but have minced no words in saying that only one would go to Canada.
The selection of a wicketkeeper, nevertheless, would be decided before the selection committee meeting on Aug 16 when the executive council meets in Lahore to appoint the captain and coach of the senior string. If Latif is retained as captain, Moin Khan will have to face the anomaly of being relegated as No 2 wicketkeeper. However, the status would take a U-turn if the executive council decides to replace Rashid Latif as captain.
Informed sources said Aamir Sohail was the frontline candidate for the job. Moin Khan was being considered as his deputy.
There was a strong possibility that the Commonwealth Games team might be changed if Wasim Akram is not available. If Akram is unfit, Shoaib Akhtar would be pulled out from the Commonwealth Games and included in the Sahara Cup side. No replacement would be made in the Commonwealth Games side which will be reduced to 13 players.
The selectors have picked two specialist spinners viz Mushtaq Ahmad and Saqlain Mushtaq but their availabily remains unconfirmed.
Manzoor Akhtar, who represented Pakistan in four one-day internationals, has been overlooked despite his consistent performance at the domestic front. In the one-day championship, he scored 236 runs at 33.71 besides finishing as the leading bowler with 16 wickets at 18.31.
The 18-man provisional team is:
Aamir Sohail, Saeed Anwar, Shahid Afridi (openers), Ijaz Ahmad, Salim Malik, Inzamamul Haq, Yousuf Yohanna, Mohammad Wasim (middle-order batsmen), Rashid Latif, Moin Khan (wicketkeepers), Saqlain Mushtaq, Mushtaq Ahmad (spinners), Wasim Akram, Mohammad Zahid, Aqib Javed, Fazl-i-Akbar (pacers), Azhar Mahmood and Abdul Razzak (allrounders).