May 02, 2008	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 25, 1429

LAHORE, May 1: Neither has fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar received any word from the Indian Premier League (IPL) allowing him to play in the league nor could he make contact with Indian film star Shah Rukh Khan, the mentor of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the team for which he is supposed to be playing.

“There is nothing fresh in my case about seeking permission from the IPL after the PCB Appellate Tribunal’s (AT) allowing me to play,” Shoaib told Dawn.

Shoaib had filed an appeal before the PCB Appellate Tribunal against the five-year ban imposed on him by PCB’s disciplinary committee for breaching the Players’ Code of Conduct.

But on Wednesday, the AT head retired Justice Aftab Farrukh deferred tribunal’s proceedings until June in an attempt to facilitate the bowler to play in the IPL.

Following the decision, Shoaib made contact with the IPL authorities to inform them about the AT’s decision while looking to them for future guidelines. But initial reports from India reveal that the IPL chairman Lalit Modi is not yet willing to allow Shoaib to play until he gets rid of the ban.

However, PCB chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf, the main aggrieved party in Shoaib’s case, said he was not against the bowler’s livelihood and is even making efforts to convince the IPL chairman to allow the bowler to play the remaining league matches for the KKR team, something that’s in the doldrums even after their losing their third match on Thursday, out of the total five played.

But no positive outcome of Nasim’s efforts has been seen so far.

It is also learned that back-door diplomacy between the BCCI and the PCB is on and Shoaib is likely to get an opportunity to play after all. However, if not, Shoaib’s lawyer Abid Hasan Minto will request the AT to resume the proceedings to help the bowler escape the ban.