Rao Iftikhar, Mohd. Irshad, Abdul Rauf likely to be sent to India

Lahore, Dec 1 (UNI) Underfire for sending an ill-prepared and phyically unfit squad to India, the beleaguered Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is likely to send three fast bowlers to India to reinforce the struggling national team for the third and last test to be played at Bangalore.

A senior PCB oficial said here today that pacers Rao Iftikhar, Abdul Rauf and Mohammad Irshad will be leaving for India soon ''The fast bowlers have got their visas and and they will leave as soon as we get a final nod from the tour selection committee in India.'' Pace spearhead Shoaib Akhtar and Mohd Sami are not fully fit but still playing in the second test because the team had very little options while captain Shoaib Malik is not playing because of ankle sprain.

The PCB has sent allrounder Yasir Arafat few days back to India to strengthen the team as he was the only player who had a visa.

''Rao had a single entry visa and came back after playing in the one-day series. He was the first choice to fly out but we had no option but to send Arafat due to the urgency of the situation,'' He said.

UNI