Shoaib escapes further action over Asif spat

[Feed]

Shoaib Akhtar will not face further punishment for hitting Mohammad Asif with a bat, during a dressing room incident before the World Twenty20 in South Africa, after the charge was excluded by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) at the start of the hearing. More... Lawyer says he served five-match suspension Shoaib escapes further action over Asif spat Cricinfo staff October 6, 2007 Shoaib Akhtar will not face further punishment for hitting Mohammad Asif with a bat, during a dressing room incident before the World Twenty20 in South Africa, after the charge was excluded by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) at the start of the hearing. Shoaib's lawyer, Bilal Minto, confirmed that the primary allegation had not been included in the charge sheet, while other charges have been levelled against his client. "There are three charges which Shoaib has to defend," Minto told Dawn, a Karachi-based newspaper. "The first one is: why the bowler played a charity match for England player Chris Lewis on August 8 without the PCB's permission, the second and third relate to the bowler's open criticism in the press after reaching Lahore from South Africa, and his criticism of the PCB anti-doping committee's decision of his two-year suspension." Minto said that Shoaib should not be banned for taking part in a charity match since, according to him, the central contract prescribes that a player can only be banned for entering a game for commercial purposes and not for "good purposes." He also said that Shoaib was initially chosen in Pakistan's squad for the World Twenty20, despite having played in the charity match two months previously. Minto was confident that the other two charges would only invite fines and highlighted Shoaib's "praise" for the PCB - "for helping him through the doping scandal" - during a press conference after his arrival from South Africa. In addition, Minto said that Shoaib, who is under indefinite suspension until the issue is resolved, had served a five-match suspension for his actions and wanted to know the basis for further punishment. "If the PCB set up the inquiry to announce further punishment for Shoaib then under which rule did Shoaib missed the World Twenty20 matches?" Meanwhile, Shafqat Naghmi, the chief operating officer of the PCB, said that the Asif incident wasn't included in the charge sheet as Shoaib had already been punished for it. "The manager, in his report, has penalised Shoaib for five matches and as the bowler had missed matches of the World Twenty20, we can't announce double punishment in one case." It has been another eventful 12 months for Shoaib, who was put on probation for missing a training camp prior to the World Twenty20. He was also cleared, along with Asif, of using performance-enhancing drugs after the PCB had initially charged the pair before the 2006 Champions Trophy.

[King]

One test match loss is all it took PCB to fall back on their favorite buddy Shoaib Akthar. Akthar smacks his new ball partner and has a mouthful to say about another spoilt brat Afridi but PCB reckon 5 Twenty20 match ban is just the apt punishment. In fact Asif incident isn't even included in the hearing :haha:

[MundaPakistani]

He has already missed the 20-20 WC and will now miss the test and the ODI series vs SA. So nowthe PCB should move aside and let the captain decide on Shoaib's future.

[Ram]

He has already missed the 20-20 WC and will now miss the test and the ODI series vs SA. So nowthe PCB should move aside and let the captain decide on Shoaib's future.

What ? I am totally shocked to hear that from you MP. Shoaib should be banned from playing for Pak , period. And if PCB is not going to take a decision on it , who else will ? I remember you being quite vehemently condemning of Shoaib's behavior earlier , but the prospect of a series loss against the Saffies seems to have mellowed your emotions a bit.

[yoda]

What ? I am totally shocked to hear that from you MP. Shoaib should be banned from playing for Pak ' date=' period. And if PCB is not going to take a decision on it , who else will ? I remember you being quite vehemently condemning of Shoaib's behavior earlier , but the prospect of a series loss against the Saffies seems to have mellowed your emotions a bit.[/quote'] He didn't murder anyone. A locker room spat can't result in a life time ban. That's too harsh.

[novpj]

Happy to see padosi's spend their energy on Shoaib. Would be great to see him in the team with Asif and Afridi - what comaradery we will witness. We should include a bet on how many games before Shoaib gets dropped/suspended/unfit again. I bet <4 testmatches.

[Ram]

He didn't murder anyone. A locker room spat can't result in a life time ban. That's too harsh.

This isnt an isolated incident. That guy has been trouble ever since i stopped wearing diapers. Indiscipline is the BIGGEST bane of any team , be it sport or otherwise. You cant set as worse an example as this , by allowing perennial defaulters like him to keep making this cardinal sins , sit out for a series and come back as if nothing ever happened.

[MundaPakistani]

What ? I am totally shocked to hear that from you MP. Shoaib should be banned from playing for Pak ' date=' period. And if PCB is not going to take a decision on it , who else will ? I remember you being quite vehemently condemning of Shoaib's behavior earlier , [b']but the prospect of a series loss against the Saffies seems to have mellowed your emotions a bit.

Not at all. Here is one of my posts from sept 27th "After the initial punishment from the PCB it should be the captain who decides Shoaib's future. If the captain feels that the team still needs his services then he should be welcomed back other wise he should be booted out like Klusener."

[siddhu]

:hysterical::hysterical: what happened to the factory of pace bowlers? They should be having 100MPH+ fast bowlers pop up from their behind also right??:haha::haha::hysterical::hysterical: one test match loss and they revert to the bowler who has bowled a grand total of 11 overs in the past 2 years... :hysterical::hysterical: Anyway, jibes and jokes apart. Why did PCB make all the noise about Akhtar facing atleast 6 month ban etc. when they did not want to include the primary charge against him in the hearing? what a bunch of hypocritical jokers...

[Ram]

Not at all. Here is one of my posts from sept 27th "After the initial punishment from the PCB it should be the captain who decides Shoaib's future. If the captain feels that the team still needs his services then he should be welcomed back other wise he should be booted out like Klusener."

But do you think that makes any sense ? the " If the captain feels he still needs the services , then he should be welcomed back " ? Ofcourse Shoaib's bowling will be an asset for Pakistan , but that isnt the point. This is about pakistan cricket and the culture of indiscipline that prevails in the team. If they dont act against it now with certainty, PCB will be setting a very bad example to the current team members and future players too. An example that says - " You can be as erratic as you want , but as long as we think you can play good cricket , you will come back into the team".

[Mandrake]

Afridi,Akhtar & co have really set the bar for "Gentlemanly" behavior. Small blips like doing pot or dressing room brawls don't even register on the PCB radar. Seems like the only thing they will probably penalize is a nuclear strike:haha:

[siddhu]

Afridi' date='Akhtar & co have really set the bar for "Gentlemanly" behavior. Small blips like doing pot or dressing room brawls don't even register on the PCB radar. Seems like the only thing they will probably penalize is a nuclear strike:haha:[/quote'] i doubt that... they will find some loophole in that situation too.:haha::haha:

[MundaPakistani]

But do you think that makes any sense ? the " If the captain feels he still needs the services , then he should be welcomed back " ? Ofcourse Shoaib's bowling will be an asset for Pakistan , but that isnt the point. This is about pakistan cricket and the culture of indiscipline that prevails in the team. If they dont act against it now with certainty, PCB will be setting a very bad example to the current team members and future players too. An example that says - " You can be as erratic as you want , but as long as we think you can play good cricket , you will come back into the team".

You don't think making him miss the world cup, test series and most likely the ODI series is enough to set an example? They should have strict set of rules and suspend players who don't follow these rules but a life ban for dressing room spat is very harsh. You clearly admitted that Pakistan is a better team when Shoaib is around so by banning him for life you are saying that the PCB and the captain should be willing to sacrifise team's performance just because they can't deal with loose canons like Shoaib?

[MundaPakistani]

:hysterical::hysterical: what happened to the factory of pace bowlers? They should be having 100MPH+ fast bowlers pop up from their behind also right??:haha::haha::hysterical::hysterical: one test match loss and they revert to the bowler who has bowled a grand total of 11 overs in the past 2 years... :hysterical::hysterical: Anyway, jibes and jokes apart. Why did PCB make all the noise about Akhtar facing atleast 6 month ban etc. when they did not want to include the primary charge against him in the hearing? what a bunch of hypocritical jokers...

one word: sauces.

[Ram]

You don't think making him miss the world cup, test series and most likely the ODI series is enough to set an example? They should have strict set of rules and suspend players who don't follow these rules but a life ban for dressing room spat is very harsh. You clearly admitted that Pakistan is a better team when Shoaib is around so by banning him for life you are saying that the PCB and the captain should be willing to sacrifise team's performance just because they can't deal with loose canons like Shoaib?

Maybe the team will suffer some defeats in the short-term without Shoaib , but thats a sacrifice worth enough to do , to set a good precedent, that indiscipline will not be tolerated. Trust me , if PCB does that Pak cricket will be better off 2-3 years down the line. Besides we dont know how Shoaib will be received back into the team. Even in press-condferences . Asif and Afridi were quite clear on what they think of him.

[MundaPakistani]

Maybe the team will suffer some defeats in the short-term without Shoaib , but thats a sacrifice worth enough to do , to set a good precedent, that indiscipline will not be tolerated. Trust me , if PCB does that Pak cricket will be better off 2-3 years down the line. Besides we dont know how Shoaib will be received back into the team. Even in press-condferences . Asif and Afridi were quite clear on what they think of him.

I guess then there decision has to be respected.

[Ram]

PCB can also use this a golden chance to show who is boss and highlight that irrespective of how popular you are , or how good a cricketer you are , if you dont respect team ethics, you dont have a place in the team. I see this whole Shoiab saga as a chance for PCB to set a whole new predecence , on what is acceptable and what isnt. Hopefully they see it that way too.

[siddhu]

You don't think making him miss the world cup, test series and most likely the ODI series is enough to set an example? They should have strict set of rules and suspend players who don't follow these rules but a life ban for dressing room spat is very harsh. You clearly admitted that Pakistan is a better team when Shoaib is around so by banning him for life you are saying that the PCB and the captain should be willing to sacrifise team's performance just because they can't deal with loose canons like Shoaib?

how is the teams performance better when Shoaib is around. He has not played in almost 2 years. Do u think it helps the team morale when the player in question is always ... in parties in scandals (drugs, chucking) indiscipline giving stupid comments (including against his own teammates)... beating up his own teammate with a bat... (this really takes the cake) his ego has gone over the top. Just to give u an example. Shoaib is a chucker and eventhough he is hiding under double-jointed (or whatever ) and hyperextension, but playing him sets a wrong precedent. I think I read in some newspaper, that PCB pulled up 55 bowlers to correct the action. He got off the drug fiasco (throw in Asif too), what is the guarantee that other players will not follow his example. Now he gets off beating a team mate, i won't be surprised if i see more of this beating up team mates in the future. I am not sayng he should be banned for life. but he should be banned for at least 6 months and demoted to category B to set a justice precedent.

[Bumper]

I can see another Wasim Akram - Waqar Younis scenario in the Pak dressing room. PCB will pay dearly for this mistake.I sincerely hope Pakistan plays Shoaib when we play them. His presence will weaken the Pakistani team.

[MundaPakistani]

PCB can also use this a golden chance to show who is boss and highlight that irrespective of how popular you are , or how good a cricketer you are , if you dont respect team ethics, you dont have a place in the team. I see this whole Shoiab saga as a chance for PCB to set a whole new predecence , on what is acceptable and what isnt. Hopefully they see it that way too.

that's the problem MM. There is no consitution ...no written laws to follow! This ad-hoc system has been killing PAK cricket for a while now