QUETTA, April 25: Shaharyar M. Khan, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, said on Sunday that disciplinary action would be taken against players if they were found guilty duringthe inquiry into the performance of Pakistan team in the Rawalpindi Test against India.
Shaharyar told a press conference that it was a matter of concern that Pakistan team surrendered in the third Test against India without a fight. "I was shocked by the manner of Pakistan's defeat in the series decider," he remarked while adding that the team simply surrendered with only Asim Kamal fighting it out despite carrying a serious injury.
He ruled out any match-fixing during the Pakistan-India series and said that all such news were baseless. "No match was fixed." He also dispelled the impression that Pakistan team was told to let India win. "How a player could be asked to give up his wicket," he asked.
As far as Shoaib Akhtar's fitness was concerned in the last Test, the PCB was conducting a probe into the matter, he added. Pakistan, the PCB chief said, showed good performance in the series, but unfortunately they lost.
He said that Pakistan were depending on the bowlers who could not show their class in both the one-day and the Test series. Replying to a question, Shaharyar said that injury factor affected Pakistan's performance.
About the representation of Balochistan in the national side the PCB chairman said that he would take steps to give due representation to Balochistan, Sindh, and Fata in the national side as boys from these areas have a lot of potential.
He said that senior officials and coaches would be appointed for grooming players from these areas and bringing them at par with the players of other areas. Shaharyar pledged that he would also give attention to domestic cricket for the promotion of the game in the country.
He informed the newsmen that he was making efforts to end ad hocism in the PCB so that it could be run through constitution. He said that efforts are under way to prepare the constitution of the PCB.
He also added that the Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti Cricket Stadium here would be completed very soon and Quetta would stage a One-day International against Zimbabwe in October, adding that Quetta met all the conditions imposed by the ICC.
