Pak board cracks down

Brewing over the past few months,the commotion and chaos has finally spilled over in Pakistan cricket.

Brewing over the past few months,the commotion and chaos has finally spilled over in Pakistan cricket. The in-fighting,multiple coach and captaincy changes,back and ball biting has led the Pakistan Cricket Board to ban former captains Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf for an indefinite period,while Shoaib Malik and Naved ul-Hasan Rana have been barred for a one-year period.

Expected and comparatively lenient,Shahid Afridi and the Akmal brothers Kamran and Umar have been put on a six-month probation period and have been given fines,ranging from Rs 2 to 3 million each. There is no specified term in the recommendation for these two players Yousuf and Younis. As and when the PCB deems appropriate,they will be considered for national selection, the second statement of the day from the board said.

While Pakistan cricket has been wobbling on the edge for a while,things took a turn for the worse in the recently concluded series against Australia. Pakistans whitewash in both the Tests and ODI series three and five respectively forced PCB to make a few drastic changes. Coach Inthikab Alam faced the initial brunt,and was the first to go immediately after the series and not willing to stop at a scapegoat,the PCB set up a committee to find out what went wrong in the infamous series Down Under.

And on Wednesday,the judgments were handed down by an inquiry committee,comprising of former players Wasim Bari,Zakir Khan and Yawar Saeed. The committee also had non cricketers in the likes of Wazir Ali Khoja,a member of the PCB governing council and Taffazul Rizvi,the legal advisor to the Pakistan board.

The Akmal brothers

During the second Test in Sydney,Pakistan were in the box seat for their first victory in Australia since 1995,but Kamrans lack of form behind the stumps cost the visitors. After being dropped by the board for the final Test,Kamran publicly announced during the run-up to the game that he is sure to play. Once Sarfraz Ahmed was named as his replacement,Kamran allegedly asked his younger brother Umar to fake an injury to also miss the match in protest. Umar has been fined Rs 2 million and Kamran Rs 3 million.

Shahid Afridi

Although Afridi was banned for two matches for ball tampering in the Perth one-dayer against Australia,stricter action has been handed out on Wednesday. Gnawing away at the seams of the ball,Afridi agreed that he was tampering once he was caught on camera. For the shameful act of Shahid Afridi,which has brought the game and country into disrepute,he be fined Rs 3 million, the board said.

Yousuf,Malik and Naved

After the Australia series,Yousuf had publicly alleged that Malik was disrupting the unity within the team. Malik promised to give a fitting reply within a few days,but a timely gag by the PCB put an end to the public mud slinging. Naved ul Hasan Rana has also been banned for inciting unrest within the team. Both have been fined Rs 2 million and banned for a period of one year. Yousuf though was not as fortunate. Their Younis and Yousuf infighting resulted in bringing down the whole team, the PCB said.

Younis Khan

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Younis has been looking down the barrel since the Champions Trophy in South Africa last year. Match fixing allegations saw the skipper getting the sack after they lost in the semifinals to New Zealand. Younis had dropped Grant Elliots catch due to a broken finger,who then went onto lead his team into the final. Younis was not chosen for the Test series against Australia but was later sent an SOS for the one-dayers,only to play under Afridis captaincy.

They Younis and Yousuf will not be part of any Pakistan team in any format from here on, Rizvi said.