January 14, 2008	Monday	Muharram 04, 1429

KARACHI, Jan 13: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) seems to be applying different set of rules when it comes to dealing with certain individuals. When the camp probables for the forthcoming one-day series against Zimbabwe were announced on Sunday, the names of Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul were missing from the list.

The chairman of selectors Salahuddin Ahmed reasoned the pair needed to prove their fitness in domestic cricket, the next phase of which commences with the Pentangular Cup.

“Both of them [Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul] will have to prove their fitness and, as per the cricket board’s policy, that is why we did not consider them for selection in this probable list of 21,” the chief selector explained.

Salahuddin may have a point there especially when considering the fact that Umar Gul missed all three Tests in India whereas Shoaib hardly was at his fitness best after the Delhi Test.

Shoaib, according to the chief selector, confirmed his availability for the Zimbabwe series. But Salahuddin clarified that he needed a similar report from the board.

The most interesting part of this episode is that while Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul were considered ‘unfit’ for selection, the same does not apply for Shoaib Malik.

The Pakistan captain has not played since suffering a freakish ankle injury shortly after India won the first Test in Delhi by six wickets on Nov 26.

Malik, who subsequently sat out the last two Tests, refused to head home after learning a day before the final Test in Bangalore that he won’t be able to play since the first-grade strain on his left ankle had still not healed.

Why this double-standard policy? If the two pacemen must prove their fitness in a match-like situation then the same condition should be met in the case of Malik.

But the most hilarious part of this comedy is that the board indirectly wants to get even with Shoaib Akhtar for a variety of reasons. At this point of time, the maverick character won’t get a chance to play the Zimbabweans because the Pentangular Cup is not slated to start until a week after the ODI series is over!