The wicketkeeper-batter Kamran Akmal refused to play for the Peshawar Zalmi in HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) seventh edition 2022.

Akmal was brought down from Diamond to Gold category and finally picked in Silver category, following a PCB rejig of the player categories

He is the most-capped player in the history of the PSL as well as the tournament’s second-highest run-scorer, but he has now refused to take part in the PSL 7 after being picked in the draft in the lowest category of players by his old team Peshawar Zalmi.

“If it has to end like this, so be it, but I am not going to play with such humiliation,” Akmal said. “This is an embarrassment. You don’t treat a player like this. With all the runs I have scored in the league, I deserve better.

“I agree that rejigging the categories wasn’t the franchises’ prerogative, it was Ramiz Raja [PCB chairman] who reworked the categories. But being picked in Silver was a further demotion.”

Zalmi head coach Mohammad Akram is expected to meet Akmal today, but as far as the player is concerned, his decision won’t change.

Akram told media persons that he had spoken to Akmal and offered him the same remuneration as a Gold-category player would expect to be paid.

“Kamran has always been the closest to our heart. He has not only served Pakistan well, but has entertained PSL fans for last six years,” Akram said. “I had spoken with him earlier, and informed him that if we pick him in the Silver category, we will still pay him same money as he would earn in the Gold category by making him the team’s mentor.

“We have also announced a benefit year for him and a certain amount from our earning will go back into that. With age [Akmal is 39], things change and we have to be realistic. But on paper, he is still with the team and that is why we picked him.

“He has been our key player and I hope I will be able to persuade him to play the season. But, at the end of the day, it’s their [the players’] choice, they are professionals and can play wherever they want.”