** ‘’I love Mumbai. I have decided to extend my stay here and do some social work and visit some cancer patients and play with the kids there.’’**
*I’m sure Shoaib is gonna play but not with the kids!
Pakistan mein is kism ki social works nahee kersakta hey kiya?*
Shoaib asks PCB commission to delay hearing
By Waheed Khan
KARACHI: Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who is at the centre of a storm following Pakistan’s humiliating defeat to India, has informed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in writing that he would not be able to appear before the four-man medical inquiry commission on Sunday.
His brother Shahid Akhtar said on Wednesday that Shoaib was presently in Mumbai and had advance commitments.
“I have informed the Board in writing that he would not be able to attend Sunday’s meeting and they should set another date in mutual understanding with Shoaib,” Shahid said.
As expected he was also upset with the negative publicity that Shoaib is getting in the national media and said stories about his brother partying and drinking in Mumbai were concocted.
“No Indian media source has reported any such thing about Shoaib. We don’t understand why efforts are on to malign him,” he said.
Shoaib has gone to Mumbai to shoot a commercial with Sachin Tendulkar for TVS Scooty and on Tuesday he told newsmen there:** ‘’I love Mumbai. I have decided to extend my stay here and do some social work and visit some cancer patients and play with the kids there.’’**
This clearly means that Shoaib while going to Mumbai didn’t have plans for a long stay there but changed his plans on Tuesday, the same day that Board announced the medical commission and said its first hearing was on Sunday.
The medical commission has been constituted to ascertain whether Shoaib had indeed injured himself so seriously that he was unable to take the field at all on the third day of the third and final Test against India in Rawalpindi when India piled up 600 runs.
“The experts on the panel will be able to tell after studying his MRI reports and watching his fall and then his batting on the fourth day how serious his injury was,” a Board spokesman said.
“They would be able to tell us from studying his MRI how much the injury would have restricted his movements,” he added.
That the speedster is headed for trouble has also become obvious from the interview PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan has given to BBC’s Hard Talk programme which was telecast on Wednesday.
Taking strong exception to fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar’s decision not to take the field in the series-deciding Test match against India for an injury which had “no bruising”, Shaharyar Khan warned that players not giving “150 per cent” would have no place in the team. Shaharyar said an MRI scan proved that Shoaib had no bruising and the player not taking the field in the crucial Test match was a “very serious matter.”
“I need an inquiry because the MRI showed that there was no bruising. The doctor himself felt there was no bruising, that the side muscles were all right, he had an injury in his wrist. But then not to go out to field just to buck up the boys, I think was below par,” the PCB chief said.
“But we need to have a medical inquiry in order to establish whether what we see is correct or not. I am not going to condemn any one, especially a senior player like Shoaib. When he says that he had an aching side and couldn’t bowl or field, [then] I have to take his word at face value,” he said.
Shaharyar said it was the responsibility of every player to give his best even if he was injured. "Every player has a responsibility. Every player must go out and buck up the rest of his players, even if he is injured. And therefore, if a player says I am not going out, it’s a very serious matter.
And it was at a time when he (Shoaib) had taken three wickets, we needed him on the field, we needed to have a go at the Indians. But unfortunately, he said he was not going out on the field. Now, I think that’s a very serious matter," Shaharyar said.
Asked who is responsible for the defeat to India, he conceded: "We’re all to blame. But I think basically, the players have to get together and ask themselves - why did they allow themselves to be rolled over in that way, why did they give up so early, what happened?
“I am going to have an inquiry on why Shoaib was not functioning. All right, he couldn’t bowl, but he could have gone on to the field. The next day he batted with abandon.”
Referring to the third Test at Rawalpindi, where Pakistan surrendered meekly in the second innings to lose the match by an innings and 131 runs, Shaharyar said any player found not giving his best for the country would have no place in the team.
“In the last innings, there was acceptance of defeat much too early. There wasn’t a playing for the honour of the country, none of the feeling of ‘over my dead body’, except one player, Asim Kamal, who was badly injured.”
“I’ve made it very clear that any player that we consider is not giving 150 per cent will not be selected…Heads must roll but justice must also be be done,” Shaharyar said in the interview.
He also described Inzamam-ul Haq as “the best leader we have” and said that the Board would stick with him. “This is what I have decided. We’ll stick with Inzamam. He may not be an absolutely top-rate leader like Imran Khan or Kardar were but we have to look at what we have.”
The grapevine has it that the Board has been told from higher authorities to take some action against Shoaib which is why the concerted campaign against him these days.
“Basically people in the corridors of power have decided that Shoaib has let the team down in the series and he must be made taken to task. So the future is not bright for him,” a source said.Daily Jang: Urdu News - Latest Breaking News update Pakistan - jang.com.pk
