May 30, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 24, 1429

KARACHI, May 29: Shoaib Akhtar may claim to be a perfect team man but former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Shahryar Khan says the maverick pacer has been nothing but a “problem” for captains and coaches who have worked with him in the past couple of years.

Shahryar, in an exclusive interview with a leading television channel on Wednesday, said the pacer who is fighting a five-year ban imposed on him for disciplinary violations by the PCB has only himself to blame for the problems that he is facing right now.

‘‘In the last two years he was a problem for the coach, captain and the board and we could see he was more interested in playing for himself rather than the team and this attitude was having a bad effect on others,” said the seasoned diplomat.

The former cricket official felt it was better not to have Shoaib in the team as the Pakistan always fared better without him.

“When he didn’t play the team did well and won. I think the fame and pampering he got early on in his career got to his head and he couldn’t handle it maturely,” he stated.

The former PCB chief said the only way left to deal with the Rawalpindi Express was to involve his family in counselling him.

“The best way to handle him is to sit down and talk to him or ask his family members to talk sense into him and he would come around,” he said.

Shahryar also asked the PCB to give some attention to the plight of cricketers banned for participating in the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL). “I have always felt that if a player is playing cricket professionally and for his bread and butter, he should not be stopped from earning some extra money.

As long as the players don’t avoid national duty and attend training camps when required, there is nothing wrong if they play in a private league.”

‘‘I would request the board to look into their cases again and show some leniency with them. As long as they are allowed to represent their country when required the board should not stop them from playing in domestic cricket,” he added.—Agencies