PCB recalls cleared Kamran Akmal for World T20

Lahore—The Pakistan Cricket Board has announced a thirty member initial squad for the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka.

Wicketkeeper batsman Kamran Akmal has received clearance from the board while the names of Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq have not been included in the squad.

A Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) integrity committee last week questioned Kamran before approving him for the squad for the tournament in Sri Lanka in September and October.

“Kamran has been selected after he was cleared by the committee and we feel that he can still deliver as keeper and an opener in the Twenty20 cricket,” chief selector Iqbal Qasim told AFP.

The 30-year-old has not been selected for Pakistan since the 2011 World Cup.

His name was mentioned at the trial in England last year of three Pakistani Test players over spot-fixing allegations but he was neither summoned by the London court nor banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Former Test captain Salman Butt and pacemen Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer were banned and jailed for contriving deliberate no-balls during the Lord’s Test against England in 2010.

Kamran was also accused of deliberately under-performing during Pakistan’s surprise defeat against Australia in the 2010 Sydney Test, where he failed to run out Shane Watson and dropped three chances from Michael Hussey.

The ICC directed the PCB to form an integrity committee to check players’ conduct and their assets in the wake of the 2010 spot-fixing scandal.

Pakistan appointed Mohammad Hafeez as their Twenty20 captain in May to replace the ageing Misbah-ul Haq.

Misbah, who lost his Twenty20 place, is still missing from the preliminary squad despite vowing to get back in the shortest form.

Also recalled in the preliminary squad are all-rounder Abdul Razzaq and opener Imran Nazir. A final squad of 15 will be announced by mid-August.

Preliminary squad: Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shahzad, Khalid Latif, Nasir Jamshed, Imran Nazir, Shahzaib Hasan, Awais Zia, Sharjeel Khan, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Shoaib Malik, Rameez Raja, Shahid Afridi, Hammad Azam, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul, Mohammad Sami, Sohail Tanvir, Yasir Arafat, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Aizaz Cheema, Anwar Ali, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Raza Hasan, Sarfraz Ahmed, Kamran Akmal, Shakeel Ansar.—AFP