LAHORE: Pakistan's former cricket captain Shoaib Malik vowed on Monday to fight against a one-year ban from the game, saying he will lodge an appeal and try to revive his career.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on March 10 banned Malik from all forms of the game for a year and fined him two million rupees (about 25,000 dollars) for breaching the players' code of conduct.
Local media reported that Malik was banned for match-fixing but the PCB has not specified its reasons for the ban or the nature of his violation.
The verdict was one of a number of penalties imposed on Pakistani cricketers for a dismal performance in their December-February tour of Australia.
"I will fight against the ban and go to every possible platform to prove my innocence. I want to prove my innocence as there have been no cases of indiscipline in my 11-year career," Malik said.
"Cricket is my passion and I live for it. I love cricket and cannot think of life without it," said Malik, who has played 29 Tests, 190 one-day and 30 Twenty20 internationals for Pakistan.
The penalties were imposed on the recommendations of a committee set up to investigate the Australia tour, in which Pakistan lost all three Tests, five one-days matches and a Twenty20 international.
All-rounder Rana Naved-ul-Hasan was also banned for one year, while former captains Younus Khan and Mohammad Yousuf were barred from the game for an indefinite period due to "infighting."
Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal and Umer Akmal were also fined heavily and put on probation for six months. The players have 30 days to appeal.
The PCB has granted Malik special permission to Bangladesh later Monday to feature in a private Twenty20 league.
He was appointed captain after Pakistan's first round exit from the World Cup held in the West Indies in 2007, but sacked after Pakistan's 2-1 one-day home series defeat against Sri Lanka in January last year.
Malik also led Pakistan in the two Twenty20 matches against England in Dubai last month after regular T20 captain Afridi was banned for ball-tampering in a one-day match in Australia.
Rana Naved-ul-Hasan bowls as Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik watch at a practice session. Though it is being said that Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan were involved in acts of indiscipline in Australia, the timing and extent of the punishment raises doubts that they are getting punished for something more grievous. –Photo by Reuters
LAHORE: Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, two key players of the Pakistan cricket team, are likely to face a one-year ban each as recommended by the PCB committee set up to probe the team’s pathetic performance on the tour of Australia last Dec-Jan.
Well-informed sources told Dawn that the PCB, while accepting the committee’s recommendations, has decided to show zero-tolerance for any kind of indiscipline and is contemplating imposing the bans on the two players very soon.
Though it is being said that both were involved in acts of indiscipline in Australia, the timing and extent of the punishment raises doubts that they are getting punished for something more grievous.
PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt had disclosed in a press conference earlier this month that the ICC had given the names of two players involved in match fixing but he later took a somersault to say that he was only talking about some former Test cricketers — Saleem Malik and Ata-ur-Rehman.
Moreover, reliable sources informed that dashing opener Imran Nazir may not find a place in the national team for the forthcoming T20 World Cup, to be announced on March 14.
The selectors are of the view that Imran has failed to show consistent performance in the T20 matches and does not deserve a place in the squad.
