ICC denies its clearance was required to select Kamran Akmal in Pak team

Islamabad: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has said that Kamran Akmal was always eligible for selection in the Pakistan team and that they did not need to issue any clearance for his inclusion in the squad.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Zaka Ashraf had earlier said that the PCB had sought permission from the ICC for Kamran`s selection. According to Ashraf, the selectors were given the go ahead to select Kamran after getting the nod from the ICC. However, the ICC’s media and communications chief Colin Gibson was quoted as saying that selection of players for the Pakistan team was the sole responsibility of the PCB. “The ICC has not issued any form of clearance to the PCB for the selection of any of its players and like all others who are not suspended for any reason from participating, Akmal remains eligible for selection for the Pakistan national cricket team should Pakistan decide to select him,” The Daily Times quoted Gibson, as saying. Selectors sidelined Akmal after his name surfaced during the spot-fixing trial in London last year prompting suspicions about his links with bookmaker, Mazhar Majeed. However, Akmal was recalled for the team’s upcoming Twenty20 assignments after he made a final appearance before the PCB’s integrity committee. ANI