All-rounder Shahid Afridi and star batsman Younus Khan have challenged their penalties imposed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recently. A six-member committee was constituted by the PCB to probe what were the reasons behind the disastrous tour Down Under where Pakistan lost all three Tests, five one-day matches and the only Twenty20 international.
The committee, instead of highlighting the reasons, recommended bans and fines on seven players and the PCB implemented them. Afridi, found guilty of ball-tampering in the final one-day international in Perth in February, was fined Rs 3 million and placed under probation for six months.
While Younus was axed from all formats of the game for an indefinite period for his ‘bad influence’ and ‘infighting’ with star batsman Mohammad Yousuf who was also handed out the same punishment. Wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal and his younger brother Umar Akmal were fined Rs 3 million each
for violating players’ code of conduct.
Afridi told reporters Thursday that he had lodged an appeal against the penalty imposed on him. “I have sent a letter to the PCB appealing against the Rs 3 million fine imposed on me by the inquiry committee for my ball-tampering offence in Australia,” Afridi said. The all-rounder’s decision to appeal came just two days after the board appointed him captain for next month’s Twenty20 World Cup in the Caribbean. “When I have already served a two-match ban from the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the ball-tampering incident then on what basis is the board punishing me for the same mistake again?” maintained Afridi. “I have taken the plea that when board chairman Ijaz Butt himself has said on record that the PCB would not punish me twice for the same offence how can they fine me now for ball tampering.”
Younus’s lawyer Ahmed Qayyum was quoted as saying he had sent a letter asking the PCB to provide evidence of his client’s offence. “The charge sheet sent to my client does not specify any incident on the basis of which they handed such a harsh punishment,” Qayyum said. “We have asked the board to provide us evidence on the basis of which the inquiry committee decided Younus must be banned.” He said they had basically asked the board to provide them with solid evidence that Younus was involved in infighting with Yousuf and that they disrupted the team’s dressing room atmosphere. “We want this issue to be settled amicably and the ban to be ended but if that does not happen then we will go to the court,” he added. The PCB last week appointed two retired Supreme Court judges — Muneer Sheikh and Jamshed Ali Shah — and a former High Court judge, Irfan Qadir, to deal with the appeals.
PCB chief operating officer Wasim Bari confirmed yesterday that Afridi was the first to lodge his appeal. “Afridi has submitted his appeal against the fine with the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt and now one of three independent judges appointed to hear the appeals will take up the matter,” Bari said. Malik and Naved have also hinted lodging appeal early next month.
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