Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Shoaib wants PCB to take action against Afridi



Acrimony between suspended Shoaib Akhtar and “fasting” Shahid Afridi took another ugly turn when the controversial pacer demanded Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to take stern action against his charismatic team-mate for breaching code of conduct.Shoaib is under indefinite “suspension” following his physical assault on his newball partner Mohammad Asif in South Africa and verbal spat with Shahid Afridi. He also threatened to take the matter to courts in case PCB failed to take disciplinary action against Afridi for speaking while the matter was under scrutiny.The derailed “Rawalpindi Express” appeared before a three-member PCB along with Shahid Afridi on October 6 where he reportedly alleged that the incident in South Africa was blown out of proportion and blamed Afridi for leaking the news to the media.The allegation was vehemently denied by Afridi and he received support from Asif who in his testimony claimed that it was Afridi that rescued him from further injuries.“I do not want to enter into any argument with Shoaib on the issue. I have informed the enquiry committee the actual facts of the incident. Now it is up to the committee to announce the decision,” Afridi told Khaleej Times.Afridi also said that he forgiven Shoaib about his verbal outburst against him in the Holy month of Ramadhan and “I still have no ill-feelings against a team-mate of mine”.A final decision on Shoaib's future is likely to be decided soon after the return of PCB ad hoc chairman, Dr. Naseem Ashraf, currently in England to appear in the on-going legal battle launched by disgraced Australian umpire, Darrell Hair. The PCB chief is expected to return tomorrow.
Meanwhile, all indication points out that Shoaib is expected to be left out of Indian trip due to his poor disciplinary record and his inability to complete full overseas tour.

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