Pakistan cricket team, which has a history of internal confrontations, seems to be brewing with yet another crisis as some players, including skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq, have reportedly asked the PCB to omit fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar from the squad for the India tour.
Top players including Inzamam, Yousuf Youhana, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan, Rana Naved-ul Hassan and Salman Butt have all decided to insist on omitting Shoaib from the India tour after their return from Australia, local daily The Nation reported on Friday.
The players threatened to boycott the remaining part of the Australian tour and the series against India if Shoaib was included, the paper claimed.
The host of reports appearing in the local media casting doubts about the inclusion of the 'Rawalpindi Express' in the squad against the arch-rivals were part of the campaign, it said, adding the players were against recalling Shoaib in the squad as the team had begun to do well without him.
Shoaib was called back by the PCB midway through the tour of Australia claiming that the player was given rest and time to recuperate from his injuries to be fit for the series against India.
The PCB, on its part, denied the reports of rebellion in the team over Shoaib but at the same time was taking pains to explain why he was recalled despite the fact that the best medical facilities were available in Australia and the team was accompanied by a qualified foreign physio and doctor.
Talking to the same paper, PCB media Director Abbas Zaidi dismissed the talk of revolt in the team.
"There is no such thing and they are all playing for the country, doing their job as one unit," he said.
Asked about PCB chairman Shahrayar Khan's reported comments that Shoaib could face the axe, Zaidi said the PCB Chief had only stated that the speedster would be considered if he was fully fit.
Nevertheless, a question mark hangs over Shoaib's inclusion in the squad as PCB officials were also surprised to see the team doing well ever since the fast bowler was recalled home last month, the paper said.
Since then, the team won a match against the mighty Australians and West Indies and qualified for the finals to play the home team in the triangular cricket series.
Medium pace Naved-ul-Hassan, who took over from Shoaib, has done well to make inroads into the rival teams and refused to return home despite the demise of his father, a move widely appreciated by the PCB and cricket experts in Islamabad.
