A last-minute call up, a long-haul flight, an hotel evacuation amid a tear gas leak and finally approval to play in the World Cup.
After a turbulent 24 hours, fast bowler Mohammad Sami was in the Caribbean as a fully fledged member of Pakistan's 15-man World Cup squad.
The International Cricket Council on Wednesday approved Sami and Yasir Arafat as replacements for doping-tainted fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif.
The replacements had been approved on medical grounds, ICC communications manager Brian Murgatroyd said.
Sami arrived in Trinidad overnight, hours before the Pakistan and South Africa squads were evacuated from the Hilton Hotel in Port-of-Spain because a tear gas canister went off on the eighth floor.
Sami, woken amid the evacuation, said he saw smoke and was in a daze for a while as the team regrouped and waited for police and security to investigate.
Allrounder Arafat was en route from Dubai and missed all the action. He was expected to link with the squad before today's warmup match against South Africa.
The teams from Canada and Ireland were at the same hotel but had left for practice before the evacuation.
Ireland and Canada were due to meet yesterday in one of four warmup matches; with Kenya playing the Netherlands, Zimbabwe taking on Bermuda, and Scotland clashing with Bangladesh.
The top eight ranked teams play warmups today, with South Africa against Pakistan, Australia versus England, India playing West Indies, and New Zealand facing Sri Lanka.
The tournament proper starts on Tuesday with West Indies against Pakistan.
Security at team hotels will be bolstered in the wake of Wednesday's evacuation, although Trinidad and Tobago's security minister Martin Joseph said the incident was unlikely related to the World Cup but to an industrial dispute.
"The preliminary reports from the police say the planting of the canister is linked to ongoing industrial action between the union and management," Joseph told a news conference. "I am relatively certain that the incident had nothing to with the cricket World Cup."
RSS