Quetta Gladiators captain Sarfraz Ahmed reportedly evaded his scheduled press conference during Saturday on Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) request.
According to reports, Sarfraz was scheduled to address a press conference at National Stadium Karachi at 4pm; however, the PCB asked him to record a message instead.
Sarfraz’s presser was scheduled as part of media interaction sessions held by the PSL franchise captains.
Pakistan’s World Cup captain was not allowed to hold the press conference as he would have been questioned regarding the Board’s move to rest him for the ODI series against Australia, reports said.
However, Gladiators’ coach Moeen Khan told journalists that the franchise, and not the board, asked Sarfraz to evade the presser as it could’ve become problematic.
“There was no pressure from the PCB,” Moeen added.
Pakistan named a 16-member squad for the five-match ODI series against Australia starting March 22 in Dubai.
The selectors have rested six players from the squad that lost 2-3 to South Africa earlier this year. They include skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan and Shaheen Shah Afridi, while Hussain Talat has been dropped and Mohammad Hafeez was not considered as he is recovering from a thumb surgery.
Shoaib Malik will lead the side in Sarfaraz’s absence.