Sohail Khan dropped from West Indies tour after altercation with Azhar Mahmood

Pakistan quick Sohail Khan has been dropped from the tour of West Indies, for all formats, due to his spat with Azhar Mahmood, the team’s bowling coach. Inzamam-ul-Haq, the chief selector, and head coach Mickey Arthur, tried to put a curtain on the real issues, citing Sohail’s fitness issues as the reason for being dropped. But the daily ‘Jang’ on Monday reported that the fast-bowler had been dropped on disciplinary grounds.

The leading newspaper reported the argument that took place during the Pakistan Super League when the out of favour pacer played for Karachi Kings which also featured Azhar and  Arthur as the franchise’s bowling coach and head coach respectively.

“Sohail at one point during the playoff against Peshawar Zalmi flatly refused to listen to what advice the bowling coach gave him. He also accused Azhar of always favouring and being soft on his two favourite bowlers, Wahab Riaz and Muhammad Aamir,” the report said.

“Sohail told Azhar that he (Azhar) was always targeting him for criticism in the Pakistan team as well and that he couldn’t tolerate this any longer.”

Further, it was mentioned that Azhar a was very upset after Sohail’s outburst and reported the matter to head coach and also gave Sohail a dose of his own medicine in the Karachi Kings dressing room in Dubai.The chief selector, Haq, then took note of the matter.

Sohail emerged as one of the best bowlers in the PSL and hence Arthur and the selectors faced a lot of criticism for dropping him.

The quick, who bears an outspoken nature, has impressed with his performances in the recent tournaments, and has grabbed 27 wickets from 9 Tests and 19 wickets from 13 ODIs and has also played a couple of good innings as a lower order batsman.

However, this is the first time when a cricketer has been dropped due to an altercation, and not fined.