GEORGETOWN.

May 4: On the eve of the opening Test of three against West Indies at the Bourda Oi’al in George town. Guyana on Friday here, a string of injury worries are occupying the thoughts of Pakistan. reports AFP.

All-rounder Abdur Razzaq has become the latest victim to fall (o the injury bug When

bowling in (he nets on Tuesday, he suffered a thigh strain and after examination was ordered to rest.

Team physiotherapist Dau Klezel Is unsure about Razzaq recovering in time for the match, but his injury has compounded problems for Pakistan ahead of their 35th Test against West Indies.

Key opening batsman Saeed Anwar is going to miss the opening Test, fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar is under observation. and so too. leading batsman Inzamamul Haq.

Anwar was expected to join up with the side in Guyana last Thursday in time for their weekend match against a West Indies Under-23s which Pakistan won by 107 runs.

He has not fully recovered following a knee operation in England and complained of pain In his knee after a fitness test In Lahore last week.

Anwar's departure has been delayed Indefinitely, but the left-handed opening batsman Is hoping to make it to the Caribbean in time for Pakistan's first-class match against the West Indies A-Team In Bridgetown, May 12 to 15.

In the five weeks Pakistan has spent in the Caribbean, Shoaib has bowled Just the seven overs he did in the last of three finals in the Cable and

Wireless 2000 Trophy limited-overs scries.

The Rawalpindi Express has been recovering from a groin strain he picked up in the final of the Sharjah Cup Umited-overs series Just prior to the tour. He was to have appeared against the Under-23s. but was not selected.

It prompted speculation that he was not fully fit. since it was clear he needed to get match fit after being sidelined for so long.

He was Ln full flight at practice on Tuesday however, and with Razzaq questionable, may well play.

Inzatnam. the best of the current crop of Pakistan batsmen. has been taking painkilling injections for a bone growth in his right heel

Named man-of-the-ser les for the 2(M)0 Trophy, lie was like the Rock of Gibraltar and opponents always felt it he was dislodged early (he Pakis(an baiting would crumble.

j Pakistan will do everything to get him ready, since losing

; both him and Anwar would be a 1 'double whammy" for the bat-- ting which, like West Indies. : would be without a truly world-5 class batsman.

In both the batting and bowl-( ing, Pakistan have quality re-‘ serves upon whom they can _ ca^’

* Waqar Younis and Moham-mad Akram can easily fit Into F place for Shoaib and Razzaq. : while either Mohammad , Wasim or Wajahatullah Wasti can take Inzamam's position.

Pakistan however, will be r hoping for the best as they try to 1 reverse their recent run of r wretched results which saw f them lose to Australia in Aus-t tralia and Sri Lanka at home, f No surprises are expected L from West Indies. Unless the e selectors have a few bright ideas or they too. are afflicted by a । last-minute injury worry, the 1 final 11 is very predictable with c batsman Rainnaresh Sarwan. r leg-spin bowler Mahendra Nag-[ amootoo and fast bowler Nixon c McLean to sit out.

£ West Indies have been on a [ roll for the last two months. ( They completed a 2-0 series win l^over minnows Zimbabwe and played competitively throughout the 200Q .Trpphy series,.

t though they lost 2-1 in the ithree-match finals to Pakistan. ( With Pakistan blessed with a '(formidable bowling attack. ,West Indies batting will come ,under the microscope one more time throughout this series.

1 The four-pronged fast bowl-*ing attack comprising aging warriors Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, the leading wicket-taker in Test cricket, along with young bucks Reon King and Franklyn Rose showed they were the strong link during the Zimbabwe series.

All but Walsh played in the limited-overs series, where they again bowled superbly, particularly in the last of three finals in Port-of-Spain. where Pakistan needed 45 overs to reach a mediocre victory target of 115.

The batting however, remained a big problem for West | Indies. It struggled against an “ordinary Zimbabwe attack and totally collapsed in that last 2000 Trophy final in Port-of-Spain against some of the bowlers they are going to face in the Test.

Left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who missed the limited-overs series after complaints of exhaustion, has been passed fit. warmed up with a .century in Jamaica's club competition and returns to add some depth to the batting.

• His form, along with that of .captain Jimmy Adams and opening batsman Sherwin Campbell, upon whom West Indies pin their batting hopes, has been patchy In the last few months.

Without the gifted Brian J Lara, still in self-imposed exile jfrom the game. West Indies' bat-g ting looks very thin on paper, ■v Adams however. has preached total commitment ■ ‘and it has brought some results, but even he feels there is room -I’for improvement.

? ,vh-never international C cricket is played In this South £ American nation, one eye is ^’kept on the match and the other ; bn the weather.

• The last few weeks have been .‘very wet. but looked to be im-' i proving over the last few days. .1 The Bourda pitch is usually *1 slow and low. but the spin U bowlers could make an impact Lover the last two or three days £when it normally begins to ^crumble and get dusty.

SQUADS t WEST INDIES (from) rjimmy Adams (captain). Sher-|°win Campbell (vice-captain), “Adrian Griffith, Chris Gayle, । : Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

>iWavel Hinds. Ridley Jacobs. hFranklyn Rose. Curtly Am-jt^brose. Courtney Walsh, Reon ' irKing. Ramnaresh Sarwan. Ma-I |' hendra Nagamootoo, Nixon r McLean.

1 PAKISTAN (from): Moln 1 pKhan (captain). Inzamamul , rHaq (vice-captain). Imran | .bNazIr Shahid Afridi. Younis kKhan. YousufYouhana, Abdur i I Razzaq. Wasim Akram. Waqar Ijkounis. Shoaib Akhtar. Mush-

Jaq Ahmed. Saqlain Mushtaq, nrshad Khan, Wajahatullah , fWastl. Mohammed Wasim. Mo-i J bammed Akram.