Hyderabad players may not play a single match

Hyderabad, Sept 21: Hyderabad cricketers will not be able to play as single match of national one-day cricket championship as the deadlock between PCB sub-committee Hyderabad and Hyderabad Division Cricket Association continues.

All out efforts to find an out of court settlement for the promotion of cricket so that Hyderabad players could play in the current championship remained futile.

Apparently, both sides were not prepared to form an independent selection committee as the two sides were floating names of former international or first class cricketers of their own choice.

Detailed dialogues between SDM city Sohail Rajput, PCB sub committee member Javed Nisar Channa and HDCA's Yar Mohammad Solangi and Dr. Saifullah Kaimkhani in Sindh High Court prior to the hearing of the HDCA's case failed to yield any result.

According to PCB sub committee, HDCA officials were not ready to accept Iqbal Qasim or Sikandar Bakht as chief selector with one member each of selection committee from each side.

Jalaluddin's name was rejected by sub committee Hyderabad on the ground that he had his sympathies with HDCA for he had allowed custom's five players for HDCA as guest players in last Quaid-i-Azam trophy matches.

Similarly the names of Naeem Ahmed, the match referee, Afzal Gujjar, and Rashid Khan of PIA were turned down by HDCA officials saying that Naeem Ahmed was a respondent in the contempt of court application, filed by HDCA which was fixed for hearing on Tuesday and that he would most certainly favour.

The Pakistan Cricket Board's ad hoc committee. Though the two sides were claiming that they want to promote cricket but neither side was showing any flexibility in their stands with the result that the

matter has been adjourned to oct 6 and the current National one day championship would be over be Sept 28.

The HDCA representatives have also rejected a proposal of a best of three match between the two teams, selected by HDCA and sub-committee claiming that it was simply out of question and was a childish one.

According to this proposal the winning team should be allowed to play in the championship. HDCA's says that this proposal was a clear sign of division among the crickets of the city and that it could, however, be accepted that a team should be formed comprising outstanding cricketers of both these teams following a friendly match. SDM City Sohail Rajput had also offered that since 10-boys were common in the two teams the trials shoudl be conducted for the remaining six players but HDCA refused to accept that also.

The lawyers of both the sides also did not come forward for brining about a rapprochement between the two parties while PCB's lawyers simply sought an adjournment, HDCA's counsel Allah Bachayo Soomro who himself is an office bearer of HDCA also did not try to persuade the two sides to arrive at a consensus.

HDCA's joint secretary told Dawn that the sub-committee members were also not prepared to name Dr. Iqbal Sheikh as chief selector of an independent selection committee for inexplicable reasons notwithstanding the fact that Dr. Sheikh was himself a member of PCB sub-committee for Hyderabad.

The two sides have now decided to leave the matter to the court which should decide the modus operandi of selection of the team for Hyderabad division.

A cricketer present in the court observed " it was the blackest day in the history of Hyderabad cricket. If the PCB ad hoc committee,according to HDCA, was bent upon destroying cricket, then at least HDCA should have shown some leniency keeping in view the future of Hyderabad cricketers. They have left the court's premises today as if they have won a laurel.