Kamran Akmal “disheartened” after being overlooked for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 tour
Kamran Akmal, the wicketkeeper batsman of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755, has said that his exclusion from the squad for New Zealand tour has ‘disheartened’ him though he has not given up the hopes of comeback.
"I am disheartened but certainly have not given up hope of coming back to the team," said Kamran on Wednesday.
The Pakistan Cricket Board announced its separate squads for the initial T20 and Test series against New Zealand yesterday. The first choice gloveman Kamran Akmal along with the veteran middle-order batsman Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik
were overlooked by the selectors. Adnan Akmal, the younger brother of Kamran, has been called in to keep the wickets.
The eldest of the Akmal brothers, has been the subject of spot-fixing scandal since day one of the controversy. Though no charge has yet been laid against the 28-year-old but there are doubts that he has links with the bookies. Kamran is
also one of the five players, claimed by a PCB source, banned by the ICC from inclusion into the 30-man preliminary World Cup squad.
The chief selector Pakistan, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Khan-c71319 also told the media reporters that Malik and Kamran were not selected for the forthcoming New Zealand tour because they have not been cleared by the board. "We discussed a vast pool of players
but these two were not given clearance by the board," said Mohsin.
Kamran, who was also dropped from the recently concluded tour of Middle East, however, claimed that he has got the clearance from the ICC to play anywhere in the world.
"All I know and can say in response to these media reports about my not getting clearance that I got a clearance letter from the ICC and I have handed it over to the PCB," he said.
The sources within the Pakistan Cricket Board, however said that the clearance letter the stumper is talking about, is about the probe held by the ICC into the 2010 T20 World Championship in Caribbean.
The wicket-keeper batsman also said that he has always given his absolute best to the side and is willing to relinquish his place behind the stumps. "...even if I have to just play as a specialist batsman and not as a wicketkeeper I am ready for this challenge.
If they don't want me as a keeper I think they should consider me as a specialist batsman and my records says a lot about this," said Kamran.
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