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In a rather strange contradiction of sorts, the Pakistan Seniors Cricket Board (PSCB) has outlawed former captain Saleem Malik from playing in the forthcoming series against the Indian veterans because of his ban for his alleged involvement in match-fixing, but at the same time they’ve no objection to India’s former captain Mohammad Azharuddin also banned for the same offence taking part in the four-match series.

Chairman PSCB Fawad Ijaz Khan told reporters on Monday that Malik would not be taking part in the series as he was banned from international cricket due to match-fixing allegations against him and the life ban imposed on him by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Ijaz conceded Malik had shown his interest to play for his country but was not permitted to play in the series due to his life ban.

Malik is presently serving the ban on the recommendations of the Justice Malik Qayyum inquiry committee that carried out a detailed investigation into match-fixing allegations for 18 months between 1998 and 2000. He has, however, lodged several appeals in the court to get the ban overturned.

“As Malik had been banned from playing all forms of cricket (international, domestic and club cricket), we could not consider the former player for the series,” Fawad said. Interestingly, when it was pointed out to him that the Indian senior team’s skipper Mohammad Azharuddin was also serving a similar life ban, he said he (Azhar) had got the green signal from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as such the PSCB didn’t have any problems with him.

Only the BCCI can confirm or deny whether they’ve given clearance for Azharuddin to play in the match but interestingly two years back when he got a media accreditation as an expert for an Indian television channel in the Asia Cup held in Sri Lanka, the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the BCCI had both raised a lot of hue and cry over why Azhar had been given the accreditation given he was serving a life ban.

The other members of the Indian squad include Syed Kirmani, Manoj Prabhakar, Nayan Mongia, Chetan Sharma, Sanjeev Sharma, Vivek Razdan, Parveen Amrey, W.V Raman, Samir Dighe, David Johnson, Noel David, Amarjeet Singh Kaypee and Anand Padmanabhan.

Prabhakar was also named in the match-fixing scandal that rocked international cricket. The Pakistan senior squad appears stronger according to the names given out by the PSCB which said that Javed Miandad, Moin Khan, Ijaz Ahmed Sr, Abdul Qadir, Aamir Sohail, Aqib Javed, Rashid Latif, Ijaz Ahmed Jr, Shoaib Mohammad, Ejaz Faqih, Mansoor Akhtar, Naved Anjum, Mohsin Kamal, Manzoor Elahi, Azam Khan, Nadeem Abbasi, Amir Bashir, Nadeem Ghauri, Shujaat Ali, Ghaffar Kazmi, Jaffer Qureshi and Ameer Akbar would be considered for selection.

However, Rashid Latif and Moijn Khan will miss the first match as they are presently in the United States on a fundraising campaign for the October 8 earthquake victims. The first match of the series is scheduled to be held at the National Stadium, Karachi on April 23 followed by matches in Sialkot, Sheikhupura and Lahore on the 25, 27 and 30.

While Habib Bank is sponsoring the Pakistan seniors team, Wateen Telecom, one of the Abu Dhabi Groups leading telecommunication investments in Pakistan, will sponsor the series which will be played for the Wateen Cup.

Source: The News

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