LAHORE - Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar M Khan has dismissed the impression that the cricket authorities are soft on the players who commit acts of indiscipline or breach their central contracts.
“The board has a clear cut policy on dealing with such cases and no exceptions are made,” said Shaharyar Khan while talking to the reporters here at the Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday. The PCB has come under fire in recent days for its handling of some cases of indiscipline during the Pakistan Cricket Cup 2016 in Faisalabad.
Most notably, the incident involving former captain Younus Khan, who returned home midway through the event after being unhappy with umpiring decisions and was summoned for a disciplinary hearing by the match referee. He was than fined half of his match fees.
“Younus Khan is a very senior player and he realized his mistake and apologized to the board. And when a senior player like Younus apologizes in response to a showcause notice, you have to handle the case accordingly,” Shaharyar said and added: “The good thing is that if someone like Younus can admit and regret his mistake, it is an example for other players as well.”
The board accepted Younus’ apology and allowed him to return to playing in the Pakistan Cup in which he was captaining the Khyber Pakhtunkhawa franchise before he left them stranded in a huff. The PCB chairman insisted that the board had little tolerance for players who breach their contracts.
The PCB has also faced criticism for ignoring continued acts of indiscipline by batsman Umar Akmal, who was again caught up in an unwanted controversy during the tournament when he visited a theatre to watch a dance drama and allegedly got into a brawl with some people there. But an internal inquiry by the PCB’s anti-corruption, security and vigilance department has apparently found no evidence of Umar getting involved in any brawl at the theatre.
Pakistan’s outgoing coach, Waqar Younis in his report had recommended dropping Umar from the national team for his non-serious attitude towards cricket and continued offences.
A senior member of the PCB’s board of governors, Zafar Mahmood, who is also chairman of Wapda, also today lashed out at the board for its policies and governance and lack of transparency in decision making.
In a letter sent to Shaharyar Khan, Zafar said that he was disappointed at the manner in which Inzamam-ul-Haq was named chief selector without consulting the board and also took the chairman to task for extravagant spending in the board.
But the PCB chairman said that every member had a right to raise issues and when the board of governors would meet on May 3, all the issues would be discussed. Shaharyar also confirmed that the new head coach of the team would be announced in two days time.