June 22, 2007	Friday	Jamadi-us-Sani 06, 1428

LAHORE, June 21: Former Test cricketer Mohammad Ilyas has announced to go on a hunger-strike till death in front of the Parliament House, Islamabad from Monday to protest the ban imposed on him by the Pakistan Cricket Board over his entry into the Gaddafi Stadium.

Announcing the decision before a crowded press conference at the Lahore Press Club on Thursday, Ilyas said his hunger strike would continue till the removal of the eight-year long ad hocism from the PCB and lifting of one-sided ban imposed by the board on his entry into the Gaddafi Stadium.

He said cricket brought him a lot of respect and name and if he sacrificed his life for the cause of the game, he would not be feeling sorry for it.

Ilyas's entry was banned by the PCB after he allegedly threatened the national selection committee at the Gaddafi Stadium over the exclusion of his son-in-law Imran Farhat from the national squad for the three-match series against Sri Lanka held in Abu Dhabi last April.

“I called up the PCB COO Shafqat Naghmi to know the reasons for the ban but he declined to give any reasons and just informed me that I cannot enter the stadium,” he said.

When asked about the harsh words used against the selectors by him, Ilyas said chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed and Shafqat Rana were his old friends and what he said was in the heat of the moment.

“I just used those words in the heat of the moment against my friends without any bad intention," he clarified. “I have, in fact, forgotten the incident.”

Illyas contended that the board should be run by those who had rich cricketing background and named Ijaz Butt, Arif Abbasi or Khalid Mahmood as the best people for the job.