LAHORE – Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has hit back at batsman Umar Akmal over his statements regarding his omission from the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 squad.
In a press release on Friday, PCB claimed that Umar was given as many as seven chances to improve his fitness and match the standards of his teammates as laid out by the team management but he failed the tests in Lahore, due to which he was left out of the team.
“After clearing another test before the squad selection on eve of the ICC Champions Trophy in England, Umar was included in the eventual 15 member squad,” the PCB stated.
PCB added in the statement that the cricketer failed to attain the desired level of fitness and the team management was left with no option but to drop him from the squad.
“Head Coach Mickey Arthur had placed Umar in his white ball format plans and gave him repeated chances for redemption, unfortunately though the batsman remained incapable of reaching the requisite fitness level,” the cricket board mentioned.
“The PCB awaits his response to the show cause issued to him yesterday and hopes that in the meantime, the batsman will refrain from making baseless allegations,” PCB stated.-Online
