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PCB defends omission of Akhtar, Gul

Karachi: The Pakistan cricket Board has defended the exclusion of senior bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul for the one-day series against Zimbabwe, a move that has been criticised by former greats including Imran Khan.

A senior official of the Board was forced to lay out the PCB policy on the exclusion of Akhtar and Gul while the selectors decided to retain captain Shoaib Malik in the squad for the first two one-dayers against Zimbabwe although he is recovering from an ankle injury and has not played any cricket since the New Delhi Test against India in winter.

“Malik had an injury problem which is now healed and there was never any doubt about his match fitness. But in Akhtar and Gul’s case they struggled with their fitness during matches and that is why we have decided they should now first prove their match fitness before being considered for national selection,” Ehsan Malik, the director communications said.

Imran has said the Board had made maverick pacer Shoaib Akhtar the scapegoat for the defeat in India although he had done his bit in the matches.

The former captain said that Akhtar was still better than the other bowlers and the Board should only think about replacing him if it found a proper replacement for him.

Malik said the Board had no personal grudge against Akhtar nor was there any disciplinary issue involved in his omission for the Zimbabwe series.

“We just want all those players who have fitness issues must prove their match fitness before making themselves available for national selection,” he said. — PTI

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