ISLAMABAD, SEPT 1: The controversy ridden Pakistani cricket set-up plunged into more crises with the Sindh High Court issuing a contempt notice against Pakistan Cricket Board's interim chairman Mujeebur Rehman forcing him to rush back home from Colombo.The one-member bench of Sindh High Court comprising Justice Rasheed A Rizvi not only issued contempt notices against Rehman and his co-member of the ad-hoc committee Javed Zaman but also restrained a PCB-selected team from participating in an under-19 National tournament.The order was issued in Karachi yesterday following a petition filed by Prof Sirajul Islam Bokhari Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) in which he alleged that the KCCA team was pulled out forcibly from a train bound for Lahore to participate in the tournament despite an earlier order of the court that PCB's ad-hoc committee should not interfere in the affairs of KCCA.The development forced Rehman to rush back home cutting short his visit to Colombo where he had gone to attend the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) general body meeting and has been just elected ACC president.Rehman, who is reportedly very close to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, took over as interim chairman of PCB after its entire management was suspended in the wake of an outcry over Pakistani team's loss to Australia in the World Cup final.Rehman, however, immediately took some controversial decisions like suspending three top cricketers including skipper Wasim Akram for their alleged role in match-fixing and betting despite the fact that a judicial commission inquiring into the allegations is yet to finalise its report.He later followed it up by suspending all the divisional cricket associations throughout the country and established temporary set ups in their places with his handpicked bureaucrats and even senior police officials.The move evoked strong reaction as almost every association moved to different courts including KCCA which maintained in its application before the Sindh High Court that its team was stopped from leaving for Lahore by the police at the Karachi Railway Station.Police officials also followed the team when it went to Karachi Press Club to tell the press about the incident and told the team members to disperse or face arrest, the KCCA petition said.Media reports here said this was the first time in Pakistan's cricket history that the domestic cricket season, which normally starts with the under-19 limited overs tournament, has begun in such an ominous manner.
