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Pakistan take on Asian XI in Saudi Arabia matches by CricketArchive staff reporter

A Pakistan XI led by Inzamam-Ul-Haq will take on an Asian XI in two matches in Saudi Arabia to promote the game there, in was announced on Tuesday. The matches will be played an artifical pitch at the Al-Ahli Stadium in Jeddah. The organisers said that full houses are expected for both games.

The matches are supported by the Saudi Cricket Centre which was formed by expatriates from Pakistan and India> They hope that Asia's top cricketers will convince the government and locals that interest in the sport is growing in the Kingdom.

The Pakistans team is very close to the Test team with stars like Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Imran Farhat, Abdul Razzaq and Mohammad Sami agreeing to play. Pakistan are currently relaxing before their tour of England which starts in late June and includes four Tests matches and five ODIs.

The Asia squad includes four Sri Lankans, four Bangladeshis and five Indians. They will be led by Indian Test batsman Venkatsai Laxman. The team also includes fallen India star Ajay Jadeja, who has served a five-year ban imposed for match fixing in 2000.

Pakistan squad:
Inzamam-ul Haq (capt), Imran Farhat, Salman Butt, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Arshad Khan, Mohammad Sami, Umar Gul and Danish Kaneria

Asian squad:
Venkatsai Laxman (capt), Gautum Gambhir, Ajay Jadeja, Shahadat Hossain, Venkatpathy Raju, Waseem Jaffer, Shahriar Nafees, Roshan Mahanama, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Kumar Dharmasena, Dilhara Fernando, Mohammad Rafique and Aftab Ahmed.