LAHORE The Pakistan Cricket Board has nominated Justice (r) Irfan Qadir as head of the appellate tribunal to hear the appeal of cricketers who were banned and fined recently for different reasons. Justice Qadir will start his sessions within the next 10 days. The judge will begin hearing appeals from leading Pakistani cricketers against bans and fines imposed on them by the PCB. According to Tafazzul Rizvi, PCBs legal adviser, Justice (retd) Irfan Qadir will be hearing the players appeals. The PCB Governing Board has nominated the name of Justice (retd) Irfan Qadir to hear the players appeal, said Rizvi. The hearing will start within ten days, he added. Last month the PCB imposed heavy fines and penalties on seven leading international cricketers following disciplinary problems during tours of the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand and Australia. Former captain Mohammad Yousuf and Younus Khan were banned indefinitely for 'infighting. Shoaib Malik, who has recently married Indian tennis star Sania Mirza in Hyderabad, was banned for one year and fined Rs two million ($24,000) for violation of players code of conduct. All-rounder Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who appealed earlier this month, was handed the same fine and punishment. Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal were also heavily fined. The penalties came after a month-long inquiry by a committee set up to investigate Pakistans dismal performance on the tour of Australia, where they lost all three Tests, five one-day matches and a Twenty20 international. Except for Yousuf, who has decided to retire in protest, all the players have filed appeals against the PCB punishments. IPL would continue irrespective of who heads it: Sohail The crisis over the Indian Premier League notwithstanding, former Pakistan captains Aamir Sohail and Javed Miandad believe the cash-awash Twenty20 event would continue no matter what happens to the fate of its under-fire Commissioner Lalit Modi. Sohail said that he was a bit surprised by the ongoing fiasco and added that IPL would continue to flourish regardless of who is heading it. It is hard for me to believe that a person like Lalit Modi who has played a central role in the launch of a multi-million dollar project like the IPL would not have his documents in place and in order, he said. I really dont know what is the real position now but one would expect that when you are running such a big league you would have all financial matters under control and documents in place, said Miandad. Shoaib receives his passport Former captain of Pakistan cricket team Shoaib Malik has received his passport, taken in custody by the Indian police, private News reported Tuesday. According to a report by an Indian news channel, Shoaib Maliks counsel Muhammed Javed said a report on polices inaction has been submitted to a local court. He further said Shoaib Malik now can return home after receiving passport. Andhra Pradeshs High Court directed to discharge all cases against the cricketer and that his passport be returned to him. It should be mentioned that cases were filed against Malik by Ayesha Siddiqui, who claimed to be the first wife of the cricketer. On this, the Indian police took Maliks passport in custody. IPL rocked by tax probe Indian Premier League (IPL) chief Lalit Modi faced an uncertain future Tuesday after the government launched a probe into the financial dealings of the money-spinning cricket tournament. The tax investigation began after revelations by Modi led to the resignation of a government minister and claims from the opposition that the league was a front for money laundering and illegal betting. Top officials of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which owns the IPL, are believed to blame Modi, 46, for attracting the taxman to their door and many want him to quit as IPL commissioner. Modi, the driving force behind the success of the IPL, which has seen its brand value surge to 4.1 billion dollars in just three short years, has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. Lots in media speculations, Modi wrote on his Twitter page from Dubai where he is representing the BCCI at an International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting. Welcome all investigation. Ready to extend all cooperation, he added. The IPL, which began in 2008, features the worlds top cricketers playing a shortened format of the game known as Twenty20. There are eight franchises owned by Indias wealthy businessmen and film stars. When Modi returns to India later Tuesday he will be confronted by a combative media, which has already predicted that his days as IPL boss are numbered. There was growing speculation that Modi will quit before a meeting of the 14-member IPL governing council in Mumbai next Monday, but BCCI officials cautioned against jumping the gun. Look, there is a lot of anger that Modi has put us in such a mess, a senior BCCI official told AFP. The board has never faced such embarrassment. But the general opinion is to give Modi a chance to explain his side of the story... if he wants to that is. Federal minister Sharad Pawar, a former Indian cricket chief who takes over as ICC president in June, was confident the IPLs governing council would resolve the matter. They will take a collective, unanimous decision and give future direction to Indian cricket, said Pawar, who himself is not part of the IPL set-up. The total effort will be to protect the interests of Indian cricket, the cricket-loving public and the players. The income-tax department has summoned IPL officials to hand over all tournament paperwork by Friday, including details on television rights, sponsorships and deals with franchises and players. Modi brought down junior foreign minister Shashi Tharoor by revealing on Twitter the ownership structure of a new IPL franchise that showed a free stake had been gifted to the politicians girlfriend. Tharoor, a former top UN diplomat, was forced to resign on Sunday over allegations which he strongly denied that the stake was a kickback for his help in putting together the consortium that bought the franchise. The furore led the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party to demand an investigation into the IPL, which it labelled the Corruption Premier League. Liquor and airline baron Vijay Mallya, who owns the Bangalore Royal Challengers IPL franchise, jumped to Modis defence, saying a needless controversy was brewing. Modi has done a great job with the IPL, which is one of the leading sports brands in the world, Mallya told reporters. The entire IPL cannot be tainted by this controversy. We at the Royal Challengers are clean. I am sure the other franchises will also want to be transparent. Lets not jump the gun. We must wait for the tax probe to be over. Two new franchises were added to the IPL last month and a fresh auction of players will be held later this year for the 2011 season.