PCB sends notice to Younis Khan
The Pakistan Cricket Board has sent a notice to former Pakistan captain, Younis http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Khan-c71319, apparently in an attempt to resolve its current dispute with the former Test player.
It is imperative to note that Younis Khan’s ban was lifted some four months back, however despite the willingness of the selectors to pick him for the national side; PCB hasn't yet given clearance to Khan. It is believed that the reason for this is Ijaz
Butt, the PCB Chairman, who has some unknown differences with the former captain.
Despite the increasing woes of Pakistan cricket team, who has not been able to find a suitable replacement for its suspended Test captain, Salman Butt; the Chairman of the PCB remains stubborn on the exclusion of Younis Khan. Statistically speaking, Younis
is the most successful No. 3 batsman for Pakistan but, he has not played even a single test match for the country since July last year while no ODI since January.
It is still not clear whether Younis has received any notice from PCB. "As far as we are aware, nothing has been received by Younis or myself," Ahmed Qayyum, Younis' lawyer stated.
Younis finds himself playing in the domestic Twenty20 tournament which started on Sunday at Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium. Ironically, the PCB headquarters are also located in the same stadium and despite the pressure from many former cricketers and the parliamentary
committee on sports to reinstate Khan in the national side, Butt still remains adamant on his somewhat idiosyncratic stance.
For now, it cannot be established that if this latest notice sent to Younis Khan is actually an attempt to mend the relationship with him and get him back on the side. If he does not get back in touch with the board, it is quite possible that he would be
issued with another show cause notice, asking him to defend the charges laid against the player. However, Khan’s lawyer said that he did not see how that could happen, since the entire appeal had already been undertaken and his client had been successful.
One of the seven players who were banned in the aftermath of the Australian tour, the board had earlier decided that Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousaf will not play for the national side for an indefinite period although it had insisted that this decision
did not amount to a “ban”.
The reasons that led to the suspension of these senior players have never been fully explained by the PCB even though it is thought that they were punished for their alleged infighting within the ranks of the team. ‘Indiscipline’ was cited as one of the
reasons that led to the punishment after Pakistan's embarrassing defeat in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746.
Younis appealed against the punishment which was heard by the one-man-tribunal, consisting of Justice (r) http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Irfan-c64444 Qadir. Rest of the punished players got their fines reduced or waived off while Mohammad Yousaf announced his retirement from cricket till he
was called upon to play for the national side during http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s tour of England.
Unfortunately for Younis, his case is perhaps the only one that has gotten stalled as the tribunal referred all the other cases back to the board, who were forgiven after they each rendered an apology. Younis Khan refused to apologize and insisted through
his lawyer that he had done nothing wrong. He then called for the board to clear his name completely of all the charges that have been levelled against him.
Mr. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128 and his ego is said to be one of the major hurdles in the way of the former captain. Butt has been called by the Parliamentary Committee on Sports to a particular hearing on 12th October 2010, where it is expected that he will be under heavy
scrutiny for the Younis affair. But, it looks as if Butt will once again evade the criticism as he is expected to leave for Dubai to attend an ICC meeting there.
(The above is writer’s own independent opinion)
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