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LAHORE: Though the International Cricket Council (ICC) has reportedly cleared Pakistan’s Test wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal for selection, it is adamant that it had not imposed any ban on his selection in the national team, well-informed sources have told Dawn.

It has been reported that the ICC has allowed the PCB to consider Kamran for the World Cup probables’ list, which the board has to submit to the game’s governing body next week in order to seek initial clearance for any suspect player.

Since the last tour of England, Kamran has been sidelined quietly by selectors as he was not named in any of the squads announced for the Twenty20, ODI and Test series against South Africa.

Kamran’s absence from the squad signals that he might be under the watchful eye of the ICC, which is currently investigating different fixing cases concerning Pakistan cricket.

However, a well-informed source revealed that the ICC had given a clarification to the PCB — while clearing Kamran recently — that it had never imposed any ban on Kamran’s selection.

Still, the selectors did not pick Kamran when Zulqarnain Haider left the national team in Dubai on the eve of the series-deciding One-day International, without informing the team management.

Instead of recalling Kamran, who has been playing for the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) in the ongoing Quaid-i-Azam Trophy, the selectors opted for his younger brother Adnan Akmal for the two-Test rubber.

This astonishing decision by the selectors made the situation further difficult for Kamran as it seemed there was something very serious against him at the ICC level.

This impression also gained momentum due to the fact that Kamran’s name had been in the news in a few match-fixing stories in the past.

The PCB, sources added, might not have selected any ‘suspect’ player on its own and the decision of stopping leg-spinner Danish Kaneria from going to the UAE for the South Africa Test series at the eleventh hour was also taken by the PCB, and not by the ICC.

When all is said and done, the PCB’s precautionary steps of not selecting Kamran and stopping Kaneria from playing without any solid reason, indeed, have created bad impression of these players in the cricketing world.