Qamar Ahmed: Aamir Sohail episode sad & unfortunate (1 Apr 1997)

31 March 1997

Aamir Sohail episode sad & unfortunate

Qamar Ahmed

Serious matters need urgent attention. The allegations made by Aamir Sohail about the involvement of some of his colleagues with betting and bookmakers is not something which is to be shoved off lightly. There is no denying the fact that the outburst by Aamir Sohail accusing his own captain and some of the senior members of the team has come as a result of and an emotionally disturbed state of mind because of being suspended for thirty days from the game after having a tiff with the Chief Executive of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Majid Khan.

Missing selection for the tour of Sharjah and Sri Lanka because of it, must have hurt him deeply. Hence the desperation and reaction. His argument on a trivial matter with the officials of the Board during a semi-final of the Wills Cup at the Gaddafi Stadium shouldn't have driven him to go that far. He had every right to tell his side of the story about the bribery scandal. But this was not the right moment. By pointing a finger at his team-mates he has not only alienated his colleagues and his captain but also I think, and sadly so, he has shut the door behind him having left the keys in the room. He may not get back into it unless the lock is broken.

I have always admired him for his gutsiness and his entertaining batting and as such I am one of those who is really sorry to see his flourishing career endangered. I only wish he had wise counsel around to resist and restrain his emotions.

The circumstances which led to his suspension were trifling and unfortunately a mountain was made out of a mole. Both the officials of the Board and he himself should have sat down to talk it out instead of making an issue of it which in fact had nothing to do with the match itself.

If we go by what has been revealed about the incident which led a disciplinary committee to ban him then I think that both parties involved should have been sensible enough to bury the hatchet there. The confrontation has led to this ugly controversy in which now more than two people have been involved which is neither good for the game nor for the image of the country which is already tarnished. Allegations of betting and bribery were nothing new in sports or in a game like cricket. Recently Grobelar, the Zimbabwean goalkeeper in English soccer league and some of other players have landed themselves in court because of it as have done the South American footballers some of whom are controlled by the betting syndicates. Have we forgotten the killing of the Colombian centre forward by the betting Mafia after he had scored in his own goal in the World Cup in America. Or have we forgotten a suicide committed by one of the biggest betting giants of Bombay who hanged himself after the first South African tour to India in 1991 after things went drastically wrong for him. I only hope that things do not come to that in this part of the country. And for this everyone concerned should make an effort.

Source:: Dawn (https://xiber.com/dawn/)