KARACHI: Veteran all-rounder Abdul Razzaq on Monday replied to the show-cause notice issued to him by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for criticising Pakistan's Twenty20 captain Mohammad Hafeez, DawnNews reported.

Razzaq had lashed out at Hafeez for not picking him for the World T20 semi-final against Sri Lanka. He was replaced by left-arm pacer Sohail Tanvir in the match that Pakistan lost by 16 runs, allowing Sri Lanka to reach the final.

“It was Hafeez’s decision not to pick me for the semi-final, not anyone else’s,” Razzaq said.

In his reply, Razzaq said that his remarks were not intended to hurt anyone and were said in anger. He added that he was upset at not being included in the team and apologised for his outburst, saying that he had no conflict with anyone in the team.

According to sources, the PCB is not satisfied with the reply and is likely to impose a heavy fine on Razzaq.

PCB has served him the show-cause notice saying that Razzaq had breached the player’s code of conduct, which forbids players from speaking to the media without prior permission from the board.

“Razzaq has violated the code of conduct and we have served him a show-cause notice. He has seven days to answer the notice,” PCB spokesman Nadeem Sarwar had said.

PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf later clarified that Razzaq's exclusion from the semi-final line-up had been unanimous.

Razzaq played one match during Pakistan’s World T20 2012 campaign, when he was picked in the Super Eight tie against Australia in which he scored 22 runs. The all-rounder was also part of the team in the two warm-up matches prior to the tournament.

The right-arm batsman and right-arm fast-medium bowler made his debut for Pakistan in 1996 and has played 265 one-day internationals, 46 Tests and 30 T20 internationals for his country.