Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has informed the Karachi City Cricket Association and regional selectors that he is available to play in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy level-I tournament beginning from October 10. The wicketkeeper-batsman, who has been ignored by the national selectors since opting out of the home Test series against South Africa last October-November on personal grounds, confirmed he would be playing in the premier domestic tournament.

"It is very simple. I still believe I am good enough to play at the highest level and I want to take a final shot at playing for Pakistan again purely on basis of performances. I am very fit and I think if I perform in the domestic matches I will be in contention for the Test series against Sri Lanka and the Australian tour," he told a local daily.

The 35-year-old, who has played 37 Tests (130 dismissals) and 166 One-day Internationals (220 dismisals) and has also captained the national team twice in 1998 and 2003, stated he was feeling confident he could prove his fitness and form in the coming weeks.

"It was disappointing not to be considered or selected for any international matches after the South Africa series. But now I am willing to compete with any senior or young wicketkeeper for the Pakistan job. But I just want to be judged fairly and on merit," he insisted.

With Rashid’s main competitor Moin Khan badly struggling for form in the recent one-day tournaments in Holland and England and with no visible outstanding young wicketkeeping talent in sight on the domestic circuit, experts believe that Rashid now has a very realistic chance of getting the nod from the selectors.

And the interesting thing is that while in England Rashid has had contacts with captain Inzamam-ul-Haq. Inzamam was one of the few senior players who were very upset when Rashid stated during the home series against India that he suspected some fixing had taken place during the fourth one-day international in Lahore.

Among the young wicketkeepers on the domestic circuit Kamran Akmal who is considered as the most serious contender to take over from Rashid and Moin and who has played a few times for Pakistan in the last few months also had a very poor tour of Kenya with the Pakistan A team recently.