Karachi: Shoaib Akhtar's bid for a comeback was dealt a blow when the national selection committee ignored him for a five-team first class domestic tournament commencing from January 1 in Karachi.The absence of Akhtar's name from the final list of the players picked for the Rest of Pakistan side leaves a big question mark over the future of the pacer."The selectors are not going to consider him for the national team until he proves his form and fitness in domestic cricket. The question now is whether he gets a chance to play domestic cricket during the Australia series," one former player said.
Akhtar also failed to find a place in the other teams of the Pentangular Cup tournament."The selectors have mainly concentrated on selecting those players who performed well in the just concuded Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and some promising Under-19 youngsters," a selector said.Akhtar has undergone a knee surgery this year in England and is also said to have had liposuction to shed excess fat. But the fast bowler has denied having the cosmetic procedure and insists he is fully fit and fighting.The fast bowler is likely to suffer another setback next month when the Pakistan Cricket Board announces the new list of players who will get the central contracts.
The board has said that only those, who are active and playing for Pakistan or in domestic cricket, will get the central contracts.According to sources, Akhtar, who is in the top category A in the present set of contracts, will be dropped from the new list of contracted players."Even the chairman of the board Ejaz Butt and chief selector Iqbal Qasim believe that there would be no justification for giving Shoaib a new central contract as he has neither played domestic or international cricket since the last six to seven months," one source said.The Board has already constituted a three-member committee, including chief operating officer Wasim Bari to finalise the modalities and terms and conditions of the new central contracts and to recommend a shortlist of players who will be given new contracts.
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