By IANS,
Karachi : A retired justice will, within the next 10 days, begin hearing appeals from leading Pakistani cricketers against bans and fines imposed on them by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
Tafazzul Rizvi, PCB’s legal adviser, said Tuesday that former justice Irfan Qadir will be hearing the players’ appeals.
“The PCB Governing Board has nominated the name of Justice (retd) Irfan Qadir to hear the players’ appeal,” said Rizvi. “The hearing will start within ten days,” he added.
Last month the PCB imposed heavy fines and penalties on seven leading international cricketers following disciplinary problems during tours of the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand and Australia.
Former captain Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan were banned indefinitely for ‘infighting’. Shoaib Malik, who has recently married Indian tennis star Sania Mirza in Hyderabad, was banned for one year and fined Rs.2 million ($24,000) for violation of players’code of conduct.
All-rounder Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who appealed earlier this month, was handed the same fine and punishment. Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal were also heavily fined.
The penalties came after a month-long inquiry by a committee set up to investigate Pakistan’s dismal performance on the tour of Australia, where they lost all three Tests, five one-day matches and a Twenty20 international.
Except for Yousuf, who has decided to retire, all the players have filed appeals against the PCB punishments.