Malik and Alam axed, Kamran Akmal included in World Cup probables
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the 30-man probable list for the 2011 World Cup, after days of speculation. Former Captain Shoaib Malik could not secure a spot in the 30-man squad after he was not cleared by the integrity committee. Meanwhile
wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal has been included in team, and is expected to make the cut for the final 15-member squad.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohsin-c77587 Khan expressed satisfaction over the selection of all the players. He said, “We are satisfied that we have selected the best squad from amongst the available players. There is a lot of speculation in the media regarding clearance
or otherwise of players by the PCB’s integrity committee. The integrity committee has given its views on some players to the selection committee, which has taken into consideration that input and has selected the 30 players for the World Cup."
Both Akmal and Malik, along with leg-spinner http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Danish-Kaneria-c1314, were under scrutiny by the PCB and their future looked bleak. All three players were asked to disclose their financial and physical assets to the PCB’s integrity committee. After weeks of investigation,
the committee has finally cleared Akmal and axed all-rounder Malik. Kaneria has also expectedly not been included in the squad, as he has never been a regular in the one-day international (ODI) team. However, the decision over his future is still pending.
The trio has not played for Pakistan since the summer tour of England.
Malik has never been accused of any involvement in match-fixing; hence his exclusion from the team is being questioned. The suspicion over the decision is also fuelled by Malik’s impressive form in domestic cricket, where he has been scoring runs freely.
Elsewhere, the only real surprise was the exclusion of middle order batsman Fawad Alam from the squad. The left-handed batsman has been part of the playing eleven regularly during the past year. Many have deemed him inappropriate for limited over cricket,
but he was still expected to make it to the 30-man squad.
Mohammad Yousuf has also made his way into the squad, rebuffing rumours that his international career has ended. These reports emerged after the aging middle order batsman was axed from the Test team.
The World Cup begins on 19 February in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747.
Squad: Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Taufiq Umar, Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482, Abdul Razzaq, Yasir
Arafat, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Abdul Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Tanveer, Tanvir Ahmed, Junaid http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Aizaz-Cheema-c961, Asad Ali.
Tags: