One Pakistan cricketer had an unbelievable reason for being excused from training

Haris Sohail had what he thought was a ghostly encounter in a hotel in Christchurch and was excused from training and a practice match as a result.

There are times when even the most committed of players fancy taking a day off training but the reason offered as to why Pakistan cricketer Haris Sohail skipped a few recent sessions, and a practice game, is going to take some beating. Pakistan are in New Zealand, prepping for the Cricket World Cup but all-rounder Sohail hasn't been out in the field much after an incident at the team hotel in Christchurch. The Guardian report that Sohail woke up in his room in the Rydges Latimer hotel last week and he was convinced that his bed was being shaken by a ghost. It is said that Pakistan’s team manager, Naveed Akram Cheeva, was called by Sohail and when the manager arrived, the cricketer was sitting shaken and feverish in the room. While the manager tried to convince the player that it was his fever that caused him to suspect the presence of supernatural forces, the player was sure it was a spectre that had spooked him. Cheeva said: “He’s OK and he’s concentrating on cricket as he should be. He had a fever. We think it was the fever that caused it but the player still believes his bed was shaken by something and it was a supernatural something.” Sohail was so upset by the incident that he was excused from training and he also was allowed sit out Pakistan's match against a New Zealand President's XI. Sohail returned to action earlier today, scoring six off 25 balls in another warm-up game.