ISLAMABAD: Rao Iftikhar was confirmed as replacement for fellow pace-man Shoaib Akhtar in the Pakistan squad Monday for next month's Twenty20 World Cup.The Pakistan Cricket Board dropped Akhtar from its squad last week due to a skin infection, prompting it to seek approval to replace him from the Twenty20 World Cup organizers.
``The ICC has confirmed the event technical committee of the World Twenty20 has approved Iftikhar as a replacement player for Shoaib Akhtar,'' the International Cricket Council said in a statement.
Akhtar is ruled out of the entire Twenty20 World Cup after the ICC also said that once a player is replaced he is ineligible to return to the squad for the tournament.
Pakistan is drawn in Group B along with the Netherlands and host England for the Twenty20 tournament, which begins from June 5. The top two teams from each of the four groups advance to the Super Eight stage.
Iftikhar, 28, has played one test, 58 limited-overs internationals and a Twenty20 match for Pakistan, including during last month's series against Australia in the United Arab Emirates. He was also a member of the Pakistan side, which lost to India in the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup final at South Africa in 2007.
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