LAHORE: Yet another cricketing controversy has come to the fore, involving the son of a former Test cricketer for getting support from his father to get a place in the national team.

This time, chief selector of the national senior team selection committee Inzamam-ul-Haq and the chief selector of the national junior selection committee Basit Ali are involved.

More interestingly, it is another former chief selector Abdul Qadir who triggered this controversy, claiming that Basit told him that Inzamam had asked him to include his son Ibtisam-ul-Haq in the national junior team.

Inzamam and Basit, though, are denying Qadir’s claims. Inzamam’s time-tested friend Mohammad Yousuf has also spoken in his support.

In a video clip, Inzamam has demanded the PCB chairman Ehsan Mani to initiate an inquiry and take action against him if he’s proved guilty. Inzamam is to meet the PCB chairman who will be in Lahore on Thursday.

“I strongly refute this unfounded and malicious claim,” Inzamam wrote in a tweet. “For the record, no one from junior selection committee was approached and there is no truth in this. I am taking this matter quite seriously and will be meeting PCB chairman for an open inquiry on this matter tomorrow.”

Basit struck a similar note. “I would request the PCB chairman to investigate this issue in order to ensure that people who are spreading such news are punished,” he said.

Yousuf also called for an inquiry and said “it would prove Inzamam is right in his statement.”

It may be mentioned that Inzamam has been faced with criticism since the time he selected his nephew Imam-ul-Haq in the national team. Imam, however, has produced good performances on the field to prove his critics wrong.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2018