What caused the downfall of Sohail? (6 January 1999)

6 January 1999

What caused the downfall of Sohail?

By Our Sports Reporter

KARACHI, Jan 5: Former Pakistan captain Aamir Sohail had clashed with key team members during the Test series against Zimbabwe in front of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Khalid Mahmood, insiders said.

According to reliable sources, Sohail had a war of words with Wasim Akram, Ijaz Ahmad, Saeed Anwar and Moin Khan on the eve of the second Test against Zimbabwe at Lahore.

The meeting, held in the dressing room and attended by Khalid Mahmood and Salahuddin Ahmad (member, selection committee), had been organized so that the players can sort out their problems. But the meeting turned ugly when Sohail levelled accusations against his team-mates for not giving their best.

Sohail accused Wasim Akram of wrongly guiding budding paceman Shoaib Akhtar during a one-day international at Peshawar against Australia. According to sources, Sohail claimed that Wasim Akram told Shoaib Akhtar to bowl short-pitched deliveries. After repeated denials by Akram, it was Shoaib Akhtar who intervened and stated Akram had not told him to bowl short-pitched deliveries. Akhtar added that Akram had told him to pitch the bowl upto the batsmen.

Sohail then accused wicket-keeper Moin Khan of abusing the junior players. Moin Khan responded by saying that he was not like Sohail who wanted the juniors to respect him despite his inability to to provide them with an inspiring leadership. Moin further said if he had been using foul language, it could have been heard on the microphones installed at the foot of the middle-stump.

Sohail then switched his attention towards Ijaz Ahmad and said the batsman had been throwing away his wickets at crucial stages. Ijaz replied that Sohail had a negative approach. "Ijaz told Sohail that the problem with him (Aamir Sohail) was that he thought every player wanted him to lose the Test which was a wrong impression," said the sources. Sohail was also critical of Saeed Anwar's injury in crunch matches.

During the conversations, sources quoted Khalid Mahmood as saying: "If there are so many problems in the team, I wonder how the team would perform."

Informed sources stated that after the meeting, Sohail discussed the Pakistan team's predicament with Khalid Mahmood at the latter's house. Although the contents of the meeting were not known, informed sources claimed Khalid Mahmood had phoned team manager Azhar Zaidi late that night to inform Moin Khan that he was leading the team the next day.

Sources further disclosed that Khalid Mahmood was at the Gadaffi Stadium at 8:30 in the morning of the first day of the Test. Sources were unsure why the PCB chief arrived at the ground that early but suspected that it was to ensure that Aamir Sohail didn't play in the second Test against Zimbabwe.

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