Apr 30 2008
Ban on Shoaib removed temporarily, can play in IPL!
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has given permission to five year banned Pakistan player Shoaib Akhtar to resume his career outside the country giving him a chance to appear in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Kolkata Knight Riders but BCCI denied his part in Twenty20 League.
“Akhtar can play anywhere in the world except for Pakistan,” said Farrukh Aftab, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board appeal tribunal, told reporters on Wednesday.
“Unless he is cleared to play for Pakistan, he cannot play in the IPL. This was the decision taken by the special general body of the BCCI at Bangalore before the start of the Twenty20 event,” informed BCCI sources.
PCB has imposed a five year ban on the player earlier this month for indiscipline breaches and Shoaib has appealed against the decision which was rejected on Wednesday by a three-member appeal tribunal but was permitted to resume his career overseas.
Akhtar was bought for USD 425,000 (approx Rs 1.7 crore) by the Kolkata franchise team owned by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment. He can now play for the team after the decision.
Akhtar’s lawyer Abid Hassan Minto told reporters that it would request the appeal tribunal meet again before its scheduled deliberation in June if the IPL did not lift its upholding of the Pakistan ban.
