{"id":9555,"date":"2008-02-05T12:37:47","date_gmt":"2008-02-05T12:37:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tat.reddaisytrading.co.uk\/index.php\/2008\/02\/05\/ill-fight-for-my-place\/"},"modified":"2008-02-05T12:37:47","modified_gmt":"2008-02-05T12:37:47","slug":"ill-fight-for-my-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/2008\/02\/05\/ill-fight-for-my-place\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I\u2019ll fight for my place\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Akhtar vows return after central contract snub<\/h3>\n
\"\"PAKISTAN fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has vowed to fight for his place in the team after being snubbed a central contract by the Pakistan Cricket Board.<\/strong> <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Akhtar was told last month he would not feature amongst 15 players awarded contracts based on performances over the last six months. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The PCB revealed Akhtar was overlooked because of a lack of fitness and was subsequently omitted from the squad that thrashed Zimbabwe 5-0.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Akhtar now faces an uphill task to be considered for Pakistan\u2019s forthcoming home series against world champions Australia. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

But the fast bowler remains optimistic. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

“Central contracts are not an issue because I play for my country and not for money,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

“I have no problems against the board for not giving me a contract. In fact, thinking of financial gains instead of putting the needs of my country first would’ve been a source of embarrassment on my part,” he added. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

“I turned up for my country when I was ill because I was required [during the Test series against India] and I will do so again whenever required. I’m fit, I’m strong and I’m ready to resume my international career with Pakistan with or without a contract.” <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

He revealed he would take part in the forthcoming Pentangular Cup in order to prove his fitness and form.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

“I will certainly take part [in the Pentangular Cup] and prove my fitness. I don’t know what the fuss was about prior to the series [against Zimbabwe]. Omission from a squad is part and parcel of the game. Even Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis went through that phase. However, I wanted to play the series as it would’ve proved useful in preparing for the Australian series. They [the Australians] will not be easy to beat even though we will be playing at home.” <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Akhtar’s current downfall seems to have stemmed from Pakistan’s recent loss to India where a report by team manager Talat Ali allegedly criticised his lack of contribution made during the series. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Akhtar was also criticised following reports that he had secured a Bollywood film deal during the tour in India – a claim he has denied. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0“It’s my life and I can do what I want. I don’t know why the PCB is making a huge fuss of all this especially when I haven’t even signed anything yet,\u201d he said adamantly.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the moment it’s cricket but I might think about a film career when it comes to it.\u201d<\/div>\n

\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Akhtar vows return after central contract snub PAKISTAN fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has vowed to fight for his place in the team after being snubbed a central contract by the Pakistan Cricket Board. Akhtar was told last month he would not feature amongst 15 players awarded contracts based on performances over the last six […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}