August 19, 2007	Sunday	Sha’aban 5, 1428

LAHORE, Aug 18: After holding an internal meeting here on Saturday, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)’s two-member appellate tribunal decided to summon fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar on Monday.

Senior official Mueen Afzal and former Test cricketer Imtiaz Ahmed, probing the case of indiscipline against the bowler, who is known as the Rawalpindi Express, heard the PCB Chief Operating Officer Shafqat Naghmi and Director Cricket Operations Zakir Khan on Saturday regarding the fine of Rs300,000 imposed on Shoaib for missing the camp in Karachi and for not appearing before the disciplinary committee earlier this month.

“After discussing the procedure to be adopted for carrying out the proceedings and collecting necessary information from the PCB officials in this regard, we have decided to summon Shoaib Akhtar to appear before the tribunal on Monday at 3.30pm,” said Mueen.

When asked if the tribunal would also be calling up camp-commandant Talat Ali or skipper Shoaib Malik, Mueen said: “If deemed necessary, more witnesses would be called in during the hearing.”

Mueen, who is also a member of the PCB ad hoc committee, however avoided answering several questions relating to the matter and said it was premature to make any comment on the outcome of the case.

Maverick speedster Shoaib, in his appeal, has said that the disciplinary committee did not provide him with a fair chance to plead his case.

He has pointed out that he skipped the camp after informing captain Shoaib Malik while Dawn has learned through reliable sources that the fast bowler had been advised by his captain to also inform manager Talat Ali which the bowler did not do.

Shoaib has also pleaded that since he received the disciplinary committee’s notice on Aug 10 which asked him to appear before it on Aug 7, he is not guilty of deliberately missing the hearing session.

The tribunal is likely to announce its decision on Monday as the national training camp for the first Twenty20 World Championship is scheduled to begin here at the Gaddafi Stadium from Tuesday, only a day after the hearing.