 Shahid Afridi has requested the Pakistan cricket board to re-look into
the fine that was imposed on him by the PCB. Afridi was fined Rs. 3 million along
with a few other Pakistani cricketers for ball-tampering.
The other cricketers who were penalised were Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf,
both of whom were rewarded life bans, Shoaib Malik and Naved ul Hasan Rana,
who was banned for one year and Umar Akmal and Kamran Akmal, both of
whom who were fined, apart from Afridi.
Afridi was fined the amount and put on a six month long probation for the ball-tampering
incident that happened in Australia. He had earlier been involved in a pitch
tampering incident and was suspended when he tried to hit a spectator in South
Africa.
The PCB has made Shahid Afridi the captain of the side for the forthcoming
ICC World T20.
Afridi's plea is based on the fact that the ICC had already banned him for
two international games earlier and hence, it did not make any sense for the
PCB to penalise him again. Talking to a popular website, Ejaz Butt, the head
of the PCB said, "Afridi has written a letter to us and we will consider
it in due course. His punishment has not been withdrawn yet and all these reports
are baseless."
However, the letter that Afridi has sent does mean that it is a formal appeal
and there is a good chance that Afridi will be told to follow the process set
up by the board to the punished players. The board has set up a three-member
appeals panel consisting of retired judges from the Supreme and High Courts.
They have also allowed the players a period of one month from 17th of March
to appeal.
Amongst the other cricketers, Naved ul Hasan Rana has raised some objections
through his lawyer, whereas Shoaib Malik has said that he may go ahead
with the appeal. However, Malik is getting married in Dubai later next month
with Sania Mirza and could well be distracted by the same.
Mohammad Yousuf has announced his retirement from the game, but could end up
appealing, whereas Younis Khan has also sent an Afridi-like letter requesting
them to reconsider the ban. He is also expected to be told to go through the
procedure set up by the board, that is, to appeal to the tribunal setup by the
PCB for the same.
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