da blaze casino： Controversial paceman Shoaib Akhtar and off-spinner SaqlainMushtaq skipped the second day of the training camp with thePakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and team manager trying to playdown their absence
01-Jan-2002Controversial paceman Shoaib Akhtar and off-spinner SaqlainMushtaq skipped the second day of the training camp with thePakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and team manager trying to playdown their absence.Team manager Yawar Saeed told reporters that he had allowedShoaib to stay back in Rawalpindi so that he could spendsometime with his mother. “Saqlain has a family engagementMonday,” Yawar said. But the PCB officials said the arrivalof the players had been delayed due to non-availability offlights from Lahore, Islamabad, Faisalabad and Multan.”The players had reached Karachi in batches due tocancellation of flights or non-availability of seats,” a PCBspokesman said in a statement.”The players consequently travelled as per the earliestavailable seats and any criticizm on their delayed arrivalis, therefore, not valid,” the statement added.Ironically the PCB officials were unaware that Shoaib Akhtarhad not reached Karachi. Interestingly, Shoaib had returnedfrom Australia last week after playing club cricket for fiveweeks.”Mr Yawar Saeed and Shoaib Akhtar also flew to Karachi fromIslamabadn Monday and Saqlain Mushtaq was due to reachKarachi from Lahore today (Monday),” the statement read.Had the PCB shown some sense and done their homework, thetraining camp for the Bangladesh tour would have been stagedin Karachi so that the boys scheduled was unaffected byevents beyond their control.Pakistan team, which leaves for Dhaka on Jan 2, will playtwo Tests and three one-day internationals on their 24-daytour.