LAHORE, July 18: Seven players including controversial pacer Shoaib Akhtar, who were named among the 30 probables for the ICC Champions Trophy, were on Friday ignored from the national team training camp which is to be set up at the Army School of Physical Training, Kakul, from July 21 to 28.

While majority of the seven players were not invited to the camp due to their overseas engagements in the English counties and leagues, Shoaib's absence from the list raised serious doubts over his availability for the Pakistan team in the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy, to be held in Pakistan in September.

According to sources close to the PCB, the temperamental fast bowler was left out due to an unpaid fine of rupees 7 million imposed by an appeals tribunal and endorsed by the Lahore High Court.

Chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed said the board had not cleared Shoaib to be among the 24-man party. “We will call him for the camp once the board gives us the clearance,” he said.

“We had to give his name because of the ICC deadline. But now until this fine issue is cleared we are not considering him for selection,” Salahuddin added.

Embroiled in a number of controversies over the past two years, Shoaib had finally managed to get his name in the list of 30 probables this week after his 18-month ban was suspended by the Lahore High Court early this month. The selectors had included Shoaib’s name on condition that he would have to prove his fitness prior to the final selection for Champions Trophy and the camp at Kakul would have provide him with an ideal chance for the same.

A PCB spokesman, however, clarified that only hundred per cent fit players were called for the camp which meant that Shoaib's fitness was not considered good enough at this stage.

Sources added that the PCB could not make a direct contact with the bowler and therefore preferred not to consider him for the Kakul camp.

The other six players not invited to the camp are Khurram Manzoor, Yasir Hameed, Azhar Ali, Bazid Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, and Yasir Arafat. Almost all of them were at currently playing in England, the PCB spokesman said.

Since PCB has already announced that only those among the 30 probables will be considered for the final selection who will appear in doping tests - to be conducted in Lahore on Saturday and Sunday - cricketers playing abroad, apparently, have little or no chance to make the final 15.

Probables invited for Kakul camp: Shoaib Malik, Misbah-ul-Haq, Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Khalid Latif, Ahmed Shahzad, Younus Khan, Yasir Shah, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanveer Fawad Alam, Abdur Rehman, Mansoor Amjad, Umar Gul, Mohammad Ali, Rao Iftikhar Sohail Khan, Abdur Rauf, Mohammad Aamir, Kamran Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed, Saeed Ajmal, Wahab Riaz, Anwar Ali.

Agencies add: A senior PCB official gave a contrasting reason for Shoaib’s ouster from the camp on Friday. “We feared he might break down as it will be a strenuous training camp,” PCB’s Chief Operating Officer Shafqat Naghmi told The Associated Press on Friday. “We will be much clearer on Shoaib’s fitness when the trainers assess him,” Naghmi added. “After that we will see whether some sort of a training programme could be devised for him.”

Pakistan are due to play a Twenty20 four-nation tournament in Toronto from Aug 17 and then host New Zealand for three One-day Internationals before the Champions Trophy.