Akhtar launches appeal
Pakistan pace bowler begins his appeal against his five-year ban.
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| Shoaib Akhtar faces a career ending ban [AFP] |
Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has filed his appeal against a five-year ban imposed by the Pakistan Cricket Board for repeated breaches of its disciplinary code.
The board received the appeal from Shoaib at its headquarters in the eastern city of Lahore on Friday, spokesman Shafqat Naghmi said.
The PCB’s appellate committee would take up the matter on Monday, he said.
The board announced on Tuesday that it was banning Akhtar from all domestic and international matches for a series of offenses against its code of conduct.
Akhtar said he would appeal and, if necessary, use the courts to get the decision reversed.
He also accused board chairman Nasim Ashraf of victimising him and even trying to extort money from him and other members of the national team.
The board responded with a $3.2 million defamation action against Akhtar.
Akhtar said Friday that “I do respect the chairman of the PCB,” but stopped short of the apology demanded by Ashraf.
Akhtar, 32, was once the fastest bowler in cricket.
However, injuries as well as a series of disciplinary incidents have restricted him to a 46-test career which will likely be over if the ban is upheld.
Criticism
Earlier this year, Akhtar criticised the PCB for dropping him from its elite group of highly paid players.
He was already on probation after the board fined him and imposed a 13-match international ban for hitting fellow bowler Mohammad Asif with a bat before the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa last year.
The five-year ban will also prevent Akhtar playing in the lucrative Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament which begins this month.
Akhtar had been due to play with the Calcutta franchise on a contract worth $450,000 for one season, but the IPL management announced Thursday that he will not be permitted to play in the league as long as the Pakistan ban stood.
Akhtar has 178 test wickets at an average of 25.69 and 219 wickets at 23.2 in 138 limited-overs internationals.