Tauqir off to Singapore: PCB bans Shoaib for one match

Karachi, Feb 7: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Lt-Gen Tauqir Zia banned speedster Shoaib Akhtar from one match and then flew off to Singapore in an effort to get the suspension on him from Test cricket overturned.

"Shoaib has been found guilty of breaching players code of conduct. He has been banned from one international match," the general said minutes before he left to attend the International Cricket Council (ICC) executive meeting to be held on Wednesday and Thursday.

The ban means that Shoaib Akhtar will miss the opening one-day international against Sri Lanka to be played here at the National Stadium on Sunday.

The general said from Lahore that Shoaib Akhtar has been found guilty of night-out on the eve of the second final against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. He added that a cash penalty will also be imposed on the fast bowler but the amount would be decided when he returns from the meeting.

"For the time being, we have decided to ban him from the first match. I listened to the complain of manager Brig (retd) Khawaja Mohammad Nasir and then had a chat with Shoaib on telephone. He was apologetic," the PCB chairman said.

The general said he told the emerging pacer that the board was trying to restore his career while he was trying to destroy it. "As an institution, we have to take care of our assets. He has been warned and advised not to repeat the mistake again.

"Besides, there will be no compromise on discipline and this action should be a clear message to all the players," he said.

However, no disciplinary action was taken against Azhar Mahmood for his verbal clash with skipper Wasim Akram during the second final at Sydney.

"Arguments take place and I have been told that the issue between the two settled in the field," he said.

The general said he was optimistic that he would succeed in persuading other board members to reverse the Test ban on Shoaib.

"I am taking the video footage that was prepared in Perth with me while the film prepared during the Australian one-day series on the instructions of match referee Cammie Smith will reach Singapore directly."

Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam reacted angrily to the statement of ICC president Jaghmohan Dalmiya in which he said the ban on Shoaib from Test matches will not be lifted.

"How can he make such a statement when the advisory panel of the ICC has not reviewed the case of Shoaib?" he questioned.

He said Shoaib improved his action during his days in the Western Australia Cricket Academy in Perth and bowled with a modified bowling action.

"If the ICC says a slight bend in the arm results in an illegal delivery, well, then all the spinners bend their arms. Does that mean all the spinners throw?" he concluded.