05 December 2004	Sunday	22 Shawwal 1425

ISLAMABAD, Dec 4: Pakistan cricket boss Shahryar M. Khan has told the Senate Standing Committee on Sports that instead of focusing exclusively on cricket, it would be more relevant if they inquired reasons for the debacles in hockey and squash.

"Perhaps the committee is hesitant to summon the uniformed heads of these organisations," he said in his reply to a questions that had been raised by senator Kamil Ali Agha.

The Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) is headed by Air Chief Marshal Kaleem Saadat while the hockey federation has Gen Muhammad Aziz Khan, who retired recently, at the helm.

A copy of the entire document submitted to the committee, was obtained exclusively by Dawn. In it Shahryar says that Pakistan cricket team's defeat to India at home earlier this year, was not a debacle.

The Senate Standing Committee has held three meetings to investigate the reasons which led to that defeat, termed a "national disaster" by the senators. Pakistan lost the one-day series 2-3 and went down 1-2 in the Tests, their first ever series loss at home to India.

"On the basis on which the inquiry was convened - that Pakistan's defeat ....was a national disaster and that it was due to extraneous factors (match-fixing, political convenience) and not on cricketing merits, was not only tendentious but self-defeating as it was tantamount to unnecessarily washing our dirty linen in public at the national level," Shahryar wrote.

Shahryar, who has had to face a volley of sizzling questions in the previous meetings of the committee now wants that he be bothered no more.

"I have now appeared at three committee inquisitions and would recommend that the committee now conclude its deliberations after receiving my replies."

Shahryar, who took over the hot seat last December has expressed his unhappiness over the leakage to the Press of confidential documents.

"I regret that the proceedings of the Senate Committee have been freely reported in the Press and confidential documents leaked to it."

He said that he reserved a right to have equal access in the press for his replies to the criticism contained in the hearings and in the leaked documents.

The Senate Standing Committee, which has Senator Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry as its chairman was to hold a fresh meeting on Saturday which was however postponed the day before. No reason was given.

Besides Shahryar, the past meetings have been attended by Ramiz Raja (the then chief executive of PCB) whose name a Senator wanted to be put on the Exit Control List, chief selector Wasim Bari and treasurer Muhammad Naeem who resigned in May after levelling serious charges of wrongdoing by the top bosses.