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Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Lt Gen Tauqir Zia had ordered Pakistan team management to ensure Rashid Latif returns home from Johannesburg Sunday irrespective of injury or no injury.

Rashid left with the Zimbabwe-bound contingent as number one wicketkeeper but reported unwell citing neck pains on arrival there.

He ruled himself out of the Zimbabwe tour. Later he was flown to the South African city of Johannesburg for medical opinion on his injury.

Tauqir on Friday here categorically stated that he had instructed the management to send Rashid back.

Tauqir said that he would contact the team management once again to inquire about the results of Rashid's medical reports.

According to Pakistan tour management Rashid is on recovery path and would be fit for South African trip although earlier reports indicated the former skipper's injury could be life threatening.

This is not the first time that a Pakistani player has made himself available for a foreign trip but later becoming "mysteriously" unfit.

Rashid's saga is one of the many incidents that has not done any good to the cause of Pakistan cricket or the country's image as a top cricket playing nation.

Upon his arrival the former Pakistani captain will be subjected to several medical tests by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)'s own panel of doctors in accordance with the findings of the medical tests and opinions of the South African specialists, a PCB spokesman said Friday.

Meanwhile, paceman Mohammad Sami has been held back by the team management after securing clearance from the selection committee.

He will now be available for selection in the five-match One-day International series that begins in Bulawayo Nov 23.

© Dawn