Melbourne Test: Abdul Rauf may replace Umar Gul

Melbourne Test: Abdul Rauf may replace Umar Gul
Updated at: 1701 PST, Friday, December 25, 2009
MELBOURNE: Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria is doubtful to play in the first Test match beginning here tomorrow between Australia and Pakistan whereas unfit Umar Gul may be replaced by fast bowler Abdul Rauf in the final eleven for the Melbourne Test.

While talking with Geo News, captain of the national team Mohammad Yousuf told that Kaneria is so far suffering from finger injury. Doctors have allowed him to play with a tap on his finger but international laws do not allow it.

He said that Saeed Ajmal has been included in his place but the final decision would be made before the match.

Regarding the wicket, Yousuf said that the wicket to be used at the MCG has already been made and installed three days ago.

The team for the first Test would comprise the following probable players:

Mohammad Yousuf (captain), Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Faisal Iqbal, Umar Akmal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Rauf, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamir and Saeed Ajmal.

Taliban release video of captive US soldier

Taliban release video of captive US soldier
Updated at: 1626 PST, Friday, December 25, 2009
KABUL: The Taliban released a new video on Friday purportedly showing US soldier Bowe Robert Bergdahl who was captured in Afghanistan about six months ago.

The video showed a brief clip of Bergdahl, 23, in front of a carpet wearing in combat fatigues, a helmet and sunglasses.

"I'm afraid to tell you that this war has slipped from our fingers and it's just going to be our next Vietnam unless the American people stand up and stop all this nonsense," he said.

Bergdahl, a private who disappeared on June 30, is the first US soldier to be captured in Afghanistan since the US-led war in 2001.

In the video, Bergdahl, a private first class, gives identifying details about himself such as his rank, date and place of birth and other family information, as well as deployment details.

It was not clear when the video was made.

There was no immediate comment from the US military or NATO forces in Afghanistan. In July, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denounced his capture as "outrageous" and said the United States was doing everything it could to locate and free him.

The Taliban issued another video of Bergdahl in July, showing a visibly shaken shaven-headed soldier pleading for US troops to leave the war-torn nation.

Hundreds of US soldiers and troops from other nations have been killed in Afghanistan battling the widening Taliban-led insurgency.

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