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Alvin Sallay

Tabarak Dar will lead a Hong Kong squad which includes a 'few surprises' at next month's Asia Cup in Pakistan. The team will rub shoulders with some of the giants of the game including Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar.
The selectors yesterday named a 15-strong squad for the one-day international tournament in Karachi where Hong Kong will come up against Pakistan and India in the preliminary group stage. In the other group, Sri Lanka will play Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates.
Dar will have Courtney Kruger as his deputy, one of the six players who have been drafted in who did not take part in the recent training tour of Pakistan. The others are Roy Lamsam, Ashish Gadia, Jamie Atkinson, Zain Abbas and Toby Brown.
'We met with the selectors soon after we returned from Pakistan on Monday night, and it was decided that we drop six players who went on the training trip and include six new faces,'  Hong Kong coach Aftab Habib said.
'I have to follow the selectors' decision. They have the final say and, that's it,' added Habib, hinting at the possibility that some of the decisions taken were contentious.
He refused to go into details. He said: 'I can't comment on individual cases. That is up to the selectors. I have been given a team and my job  is to get them ready for the tournament.'
Tony Turner, the acting chairman of selectors, said while Habib's penchant for grooming younger players was largely adhered to, they had to strike a balance and bring in a few known faces into the team.
'I think we may have sprung a few surprises on Aftab. But I think he is reasonably happy with the squad,'  Turner said. 'It is obvious that we have to go for youth in the longer term, but we had to strike a balance. We feel this is a well-balanced team.'
Turner explained that Lamsam has been brought in to bolster the batting  while all-rounder Brown is a cover for the injured Hussain Butt.
'Of course there will be some disappointment amongst players who have missed out, but our view is that many of these players are at an age where their future contribution to Hong Kong will be limited,'  Turner added.



Selectors replace six in major revamp of squad for Asia Cup