Azhar, Qadir to lead India, Pak veterans

Kozhikode, Feb 6 (UNI) Former India Captain Mohammed Azharuddin and Pakistani leg spinner Abdul Qadir will lead their respective veterans' teams, in a three-match ODI series to be played from February 23.

The inaugural match will be at Udaipur on February 23, the second at Kozhikode on February 25 and the third in Meerut on February 27, Board for Veterans Cricket in India (BVCI) Vice President J K Mahendra told reporters here.

Work for the preparation of pitches for these matches in full swing, he said.

He said the organisers would be paying a decent match fee to the players besides bearing their travelling expenses to ensure that the series is serious and memorable.

Many former players, including leg spinner B S Chandrasekhar and stumper Syed Kirmani are also expected to witness the games, he said.

He said the series is the third such between the two sides. The first tournament took place in 2005 in India followed by another last year in Pakistan.

Teams: India: Mohammed Azharuddin (Capt), Manoj Prabhkarar, Nayan Mongia (wk), Robin Singh, Narendra Hirwani, Venkatesh Prasad, Venkatapathi Raju, Praveen Amre, David Johnson, Vivek Razdan, W V Raman, Noel David, Anantha Padmanabhan and Sadagopan Satish.

Pakistan: Abdul Qadir (Capt), Rashid Latif (WK), Mansoor Aktar, Ijaz Ahmed, Naveen Anjum, Maushim Kamal, Mansoor Elahi, Shoaib Mohammed, Ijaj Faquir, Ashraf Ali, Azam Khan, Arshad Khan, Mohamood Hamid and Amir Aktar.

UNI