Pakistan recall Kamran Akmal, Razzaq for World T20

Karachi - Pakistan on Wednesday included controversial wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal, opener Imran Nazir and all-rounder Abdul Razzaq in the list of 30 probables for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in September-October.

Kamran, who last played for Pakistan in the 2011 World Cup, was recalled after a Pakistan Board integrity committee cleared him after questioning last week over his role in spot-fixing on tours overseas.

His name figured at the trial of three Pakistani Test players in England last year over spot-fixing, but neither the London Court, which jailed former Pakistan captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer, questioned him nor the International Cricket Council (ICC), which banned the three players, took any action against him.

Butt, Asif and Aamer were held guilty of conspiring to deliberately no-ball more than once during the 2010 Lord’s Test and earlier in the same year, Kamran was perceived to have underperformed in the Sydney Test.

Kamran failing to run out Shane Watson and dropping three sitters off Michael Hussey were seen as deliberate acts, and the ICC directed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to form an integrity committee to verify the players’ antecedents and investigate their assets in the aftermath of the London spot-fixing trial.

Test and ODI captain Misbah-ul-Haq does not find a place in the list after losing his Twenty20 place and captaincy against Sri Lanka where Mohammad Hafeez led the side.

The final squad of 15 will be announced in mid-August.

The probables:

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 , Abdur Rehman, Raza Hasan, Sarfraz Ahmed, Kamran Akmal, Shakeel Ansar.