Former Pakistan cricketer Taufeeq Umar has isolated himself at home and appealed to his fans to pray for his swift recovery.

Taufeeq Umar, who played the last of his 43 Tests in Sri Lanka two years ago, is one of the four openers in the 16-man squad with fit-again Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shahzad likely to get into the final eleven for the first Test starting in Dubai from October 22.

Abdul Razzaq pulled a hamstring during practice at the Wanderers last Sunday, while Shoaib Malik could not recover in time from a blow on his finger during Pakistan's six-run loss against the Proteas in the second T20 at Dubai last Friday.

Rumors about problems between Hafeez and Misbah gained momentum in the mid of the South African tour after Pakistan were whitewashed in the Test series. At one stage there was even talk about the Board contemplating appointing Hafeez as the one-day skipper in place of Misbah.

According to details in the financial years 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, Misbah had to pay a total tax of Rs 4.9 million, based on his declared income, however his total tax payment for the two years stood at Rs 2.96 million.

Pakistan's left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Irfan made a claim for a Test place and senior batsman Younis Khan played himself into form on the second and final day of a practice match against an Emerging Cape Cobras team at the Western Province Cricket Club on Monday.

The left-handed Jamshed, who also hit two back-to-back hundreds in the ODI series in India, will make his Test debut on Friday although he won his Pakistan cap in a ODI way back in 2008.

Taufeeq has suffered a muscle injury in his shin and the team management decided to call for a replacement.

The second Test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo ended in a stalemate, despite a spirited attempt by the visitors to force a result.

Sri Lanka ventured, but didn't gain. When they won the toss, they could have easily strapped their pads on and added to their already impressive records on the SSC sleeping beauty. However, they chose to try to exploit whatever juice there might have been in the first session and to put pressure on a batting line-up that has proved brittle on this tour. Milking r...