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| October 3, 2003 | Friday | Sha’aban 6, 1424 |
Nine players leave field in protest
PESHAWAR, Oct 2: An unsual situation was created on Thursday when Peshawar skipper Arshad Khan and eight of his team-mates left the field in protest half an hour before start of the inter-district match against Fata at the Gymkhana Ground.
Arshad, the former Test off-spinner, led the boycott just before the toss was due to take place after alleged interference of Peshawar District Cricket Association (PDCA)’s secretary-cum-coach Aziz Khan.
Aziz expressed his reservation on the playing XI nominated by Arshad.
“I just told him (Arshad) not to make any changes in the team which already secured an innings and 90 runs victory against Swabi in its first fixture,” an angry Aziz told the media.
“My contention is simple. The secretary interfered in selection and asked me to field this and that player in the team. It was me who had to decide who plays because I’m the captain-cum-coach,” Arshad retorted.
“I do not want the secretary to interfere in selection matters we had announced 15 players for the Fata game. It was the skipper’s responsibility to decide which player would get in and who would be rested,” Arshad added.
Aziz, however, alleged that Arshad’s changes in the side were not according to the merit as he dropped regular wicket-keeper Kashif Hayat and left-arm spinner Ibrar Ahmed.
“It was not according to merit. Kashif and Ibrar deserved to be included in the team against Fata as Kashif took two catches and made two stumps in the first match while Ibrar got three wickets for 18 runs in his 10 overs spell,” the official said, adding “It was astonishing to see the two players have not been listed in the side handed over to me by Arshad.”
Arshad further said that he had already informed PCB’s chief executive, Ramiz Raja, of the incident.
“ Why the secretary is interfering in the affairs of the team despite the fact that a PCB selection committee named the 20-member squad,”
Arshad questioned. “We even expressed our reservations when the said selection committee dropped players like Kabir Khan, Taimur Khan and Wasim Yousufi. But we want to sort out issue with the association politely.”
Besides Arshad, the other players who staged the walkout were Fazle Akbar, Akhtar Sarfraz, Fayyaz Khan, Jan Nisar Khan, Riffatullah, Wajahatullah Wasti, Shoaib Khan and Aslam Qurashi.
Soon after the protesting players came off, Aziz summoned players like Nouman Habib, Nasir Khan, Kamran Ali, Sajjad Ahmed and Zeeshan Mohsin from their homes and the match finally got under way 30 minutes late.—APP
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