Sports
Shoaib pushes for suspension of ban
KARACHI: Shoaib Akhtar's lawyers have asked for a suspension of his five-year ban in a bid to allow him to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and are set once again to approach the Appellate Tribunal looking into his appeal.
The tribunal reached a decision of sorts this week, allowing Shoaib to play in competitions outside Pakistan, but upholding his five-year ban for playing in or for Pakistan at least until June when they will revisit his appeal.
It was thought that this verdict would free up Shoaib to play in the IPL and Nasim Ashraf, the PCB chairman, even spoke personally to Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, to allow him to do so. But the IPL refused, arguing that a player banned from playing for his country would not be eligible to play in the league. It is believed that Shoaib's legal team had asked for the ban to be suspended at the last hearing so that he could play in the IPL. But the tribunal, by specifically granting him permission to play outside Pakistan, thought there was no need to suspend the ban.
"The order was taken to the IPL because we all thought there was no need to lift the ban for Shoaib to play there," a source close to the player told Cricinfo. "But the IPL then said that until he remains banned from Pakistan duty, he cannot play in the IPL, so an application will now be filed with the tribunal to suspend the ban until such time as the appeal is resolved."
Shoaib was banned for five years in April by the PCB after he criticised the board and its policies at the turn of the year, thus breaching the players' code of conduct. The punishment, harsh on the surface, took into account past indiscretions and in particular the fact that he had been put on a two-year probation period after his last disciplinary scuffle - his tiff with Mohammad Asif before last year's Twenty20 World Cup.
After the ban, Shoaib accused the the chairman of the PCB publicly on several local TV channels of financial misbehaviour, which led to the Ashraf slapping a defamation lawsuit on the player. Shoaib has now also been asked to appear before a Lahore civil court on May 16th.
Tendulkar fitness crucial to Mumbai Indians' fortunes
Mumbai: Rampaging Delhi Daredevils, who have shot to the top of the table and are firing on all cylinders, take on the wobbly Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League clash at the D Y Patil Stadium tomorrow in hot and humid conditions.
The home team has sorely missed its captain and injured icon player Sachin Tendulkar in their first five matches and the none-too-encouraging news is the master batsman is still not feeling 100 per cent fit.
A lot hinges on Tendulkar's availability for the tie if Mumbai Indians are to stun the high-flying Delhi outfit captained by another icon player in the Twenty20 League, Virender Sehwag.
Tendulkar played his first match yesterday, albeit against a team made up of his own teammates, after more than a month and fielded for the whole of the opposition's 20-over innings and also batted.
He is to take a final call on whether he is fit to play the match only tomorrow and the hosts are hoping fervently he's available to play his first competitive game since turning our for India against South Africa in the first Test at Chennai in March-end.
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