The Pakistan Cricket Board has dropped a bombshell: Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan have been banned. While Yousuf and Younis have been banned indefinitely for causing in-fighting, Malik and Naved will only be eligible to play for Pakistan after a year.
Meanwhile, Shahid Afridi’s ball-biting antics have landed him a six-month probation and a three-million-rupee fine. Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal have also been fined three million and two million rupees, respectively, for their tantrum-throwing and injury-feigning episodes during the Australia tour.
These punitive measures have been taken right before Pakistan is set to defend its World Twenty20 title in the West Indies in April and May.
Do you think the bans and fines are too harsh or too lenient? Will Pakistan be able to defend its title successfully without players like Rana Naved and Shoaib Malik on the field? And who will take on the troubled side’s captaincy? Salman Butt? Abdur Razzaq? Or dare we say, Shoaib Akhtar?
The following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.
I thing this decision was long due. I believe punishment for Yunas and Yusuf is bit harsh. We will not see any drastic changes unless Ijaz Butt and Wasim Bari resign, these two are useless.
With the expulsion of these two Y’s paki cricket would become a club team.Problem arises when in a team there are number of leaders,which are because of the frequent changes in captaincy,thus everyone thinks himself to be a captain.Sole clprit is PCB.Cricket lovers would love to see them on the field at the earliest.
A lot of strong measures need to be taken in order to clean up the mess it is a step in the right direction only if pcb can sustain the pressure of the press and masses accountability has to start sometime and soon our superstars are very very super but it goes to their head and they forget about cricket and pakistan
is this Jutice?
None of the PCB member were fired or ban? what kind of justice is this? Ban indefinetly is simply cruel. Fine and some matches ban would be fair punisment for players.
Wow Wow
None of the PCB member were fired or ban? what kind of justice is this? Ban indefinetly is simply cruel. Fine and some matches ban would be fair punisment for players.
A lot of bad things must have been happening, and for a long time to call for this kind of action.
What were PCB, and Mr. Butt doing at that time? Or is this for saving their own face for the decline of cricket quality?
Where are the details of the criminal acts? Will they even be make public?
This is the end of Pakistan as a top cricket nation. There is still time to save it. It is the time for Mr Butt & Co. to go.
just a drama by admmisnistators. Where is the talent of wasim akram , imran khan or waqar yunus or miandad in the present day pakistan cricket? Pakistan was outclassed in australia because of talent not because someone bribed pakistan players to loose.
Right dicision…build a new team with new blood..
Nothing will change. The banned players will all appeal and the punishments will be revoked or reduced at the very least. PCB will look like they tried to change things around, but even they know that not much will change. The same players will be there shortly. Pakistan Cricket continues pretty much the same. Whuile we’re at it, why not bring back the Rawalpindi express? lol
I agree with the concept. I think Akmals should have been also barred – Kamran for two years and Umar for 6 months. Shoaib should have been barred for 5 years. Afridi, Yousuf and Younus should have been reprimanded and token fines of 0.5 to 1.0 million.
All the players should be now warned that penalties were reduced because of being implemented the first time. Next time we will be talking about life bans etc etc.
Finally another committee should review the performance of selectors and PCB. Some people like Ijaz Butt, Bari and Ilyas should be immediately done away with.
In a recent talk at Ted India 2009 Harsha Bhogle compared the rise of India with the rise of the cricketing and commercial success of Indian cricket. The fact that the PCB has taken such drastic actions whether right or wrong does question the state of not only our cricketing team, but our nation. The manner in which the committee came to its decision, was far from just, with all PCB employees part of the decision making process with neither a player representative or neutral member present. Perhaps reflective of the wider state of the country? Pakistani cricket would have to look to make the most of a poor situation – hopefully all this drama would be a learning process and perhaps some new faces and talents may emerge.
Please i hope there is no going back on these bans and fines for these crooked players…. people please note Akmal brothers are not banned….. my personal view is Kamran Akmal should have been banned… but not Umar Akmal
The decision on 2-Y’s is totally wrong whatever they have done, PCB should have arranged early retirement for these 2-Y’s. Malik should have been banned for life. Discipline should be taught and it is very important aspect of the game. Waqar as a coach is a wrong decision,Rashid Latif should have been assigned.PCB should appoint Army Sargent to teach discipline, trained pyshically and keep an eye on them.PCB Chairman and selector Mohammed Illyas should go.
So called PCB always down the moral of pak cricket,i think they are real culprit & deserve punishment,The playesrs whom they think are culprit did a lot for pak nation in past time .Respected M. yousufh sets amazing records for his country in reply what he gets a life ban for only one mistake,this is really shamefull for these senseless PCB members.
Another inconsistent decision by the PCB. All the players should have been heavily fined (monetary), so much that it would have really hurt them and taught them a lesson. PCB would also have benefited from the money! But life bans and yearly bans etc. are ridiculous given that these players are needed in the coming tours. A monetary punishment is really the best way and should be high enough to cause grievance amongst the players – no one likes to loose their hard earned money when they can avoid it.
This is not good for Pakistan Cricket, Ejaz Butt is saving his skin and using bith Y’s as escape goat.
Pakisatn cricket team is done… no future
Hi guys, I am from India..What ever is the problem, pls set it right fast. I think we enjoy playing with Pakistan team the most…win or loss….wish u come out of this fast
Great gesture =)
Shoaib Malik is good ridden. Lately whenever he used to come to bat in One-Day cricket, it felt as if he is playing test match. Umar should be told one more goof up to back up older brother, his career is finished before it started. Afridi has lost his charm a year ago and is no longer a match winner. Younis is out of form and time to retire. Yousaf is a test player and that is it and time to retire. Bring Razzaq or Salman Butt as captain and pick some new blood from Under 19 for the world cup and see how they turn the tables around.
pcb will itself lift ban frm all players
Absolutely rediculous decision of banning Younis Khan and Yousuf.I think the panel over reacted on the OZ loss.I dont undertstand why they left Afridi and Akmal brothers with just Fine.They are the culprits and should be suspended for some time.Selfish Malik should have been more punished as he is the cause for this crisis.Hope the panel would reconsider taking off ban on Younis and Yousif .
Bizarre! I think the PCB should have sided with one of the two (in my opinion Mohammed Yousuf because he is one of the best batsmen in the world i.e., his batting record speak for itself) and kicked Younus out from selection process quietly behind closed doors. They should have also kicked all those players out of selection process that have issues with Yousuf. This would have strengthened Yousuf hand and would have brought discipline in the team because now all members of the team would have known that the board strongly stands behind its captain. Therefore, going forward all team members would be fully aware that if they did not give more than 100% effort to the captain they will be kicked out too (just like in the days of Imaran Khan. Imran was a successful captain because PCB fully stood behind him). This action from PCB will create further problems for the team because it creates the mindset that if the team members create problems for the captain, it will be the captain who’s job will be on the line and not theirs The problem with this is that it is not the PCB that leads the team on the ground but the captain, therefore, it should be the captain who should be all powerful and the PCB should not accept any if’s or but’s from the players against the captain. If the captain complains about a player then he should be out and not vice versa. Therefore, I am in favor of an all powerful captain that deliver result and not all powerful board. The board job should be to nominate the captain and take the back seat. The selection committee job should be to select players with consultation with the captain.
The PCB set up is mainly responsible for this mess up.- they were behaving like spectators untill the end of tour to Austrailia. They have should have been alert a long time ago and could have prevented mich of this mess.
I don’t understand how can you punish yousuf and yousuf for just infighting, banning them indefinitely and leaving other the main culprits. i.e. Kamran, Afridi, and Shoib with smaller scale of punsihment.
Fattah
Not sure if this will make any positive difference. What WOULD matter is leaders who have the respect and command; i.e. leaders at team as well as management levels. And on top of it all, we need EDUCATED people to lead at every level.
The decision taken against every player is absolutely right. Its clearly shows the supremacy of PCB and show the way to players that they have place in team if they perform well. It sets good example for future and players will think twice before committing such mistakes.