Younis Khan versus the Pakistan Cricket Board
The Pakistan Cricket Board is surrounded in a storm once again. Former captain Younis Khan has refused to accept any compromise against the ban imposed on him. The offers made to him to find a middle way out before the tour of England have all been declined with impunity.
PCB has put forward the offer that if Younis Khan withdraws his appeal against the ban, the board will remove the ban by imposing a nominal fine. According to sources close to Younis Khan, the offer was conveyed by Tafazzul Rizvi who is the legal advisor of Pakistan Cricket Board.
Younis Khan was fined and banned for an indefinite time after returning from the disastrous tour of Australian. The tour was a complete mess for the men in green as team Pakistan was not able to bag even a single victory during the entire tour. Seven players were slapped with bans and fines, all of whom appealed for a reprieve apart from Muhammad Yusuf who did not appeal. Yusuf and Younis were charged for infighting in the team which had a trickledown effect on the performance against Australia.
Currently, Younis has left for England after instructing his lawyer Ahmed Qayyum that he must keep a close eye on the Board’s appeal and make sure that the judge, Justice (retd) Irfan Qadir, gives a full verdict.
Sources also declared that Younis completely denied any wrong doing on his part, as the PCB indicated that he could only play for Pakistan very soon if he undertakes the compromise formula. The Pakistan Cricket Board actually wants the chapter to close as soon as possible. It has offered a settlement with Younis Khan’s lawyer who confirmed the news.
The ban was forced in March and Younis had appealed against it right after that. He also attended two hearings with Justice Qadir. Before the meetings, Younis clarified that he had always given his best for the team and now, he wants to continue cricket for his country.
Younis has time and again refused to accept any of the charges against him and he says that nothing wrong was done by him and he would not accept anything that he has not done only to uplift the ban. The former captain also stated that he never took part in cooking any controversies and has refrained from any sort of grouping or lobbying in the team. Therefore, Younis believes that the ban on him is totally unfair and he wants the judge to give a full verdict on his appeal.
Younis has demanded that his ban must be suspended by the appeals judge and also that all the hearings must be held on camera so that the entire media and his fans could know the truth and can decide for themselves if the ban on him is reasonable or not.
On Monday, at the hearing of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Sports, Younis clearly stated that he had never been a part of the politics boiling in the team since long. The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Sports has been convinced that Younis was treated in an unfair manner and the bans and fines must be reviewed for all the players.
The Pakistan Cricket Board has named Younis Khan along with other banned players, Shoaib Malik into the list of players that could probably play the Asia Cup as well as the England tour. However, it could only be done if the players win a favourable result from their appeals. Younis’ next appeal is expected to be heard by Justice Qadir on May 29th, while Younis has also threatened to head towards the high courts if he didn’t get justice from the PCB.
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