Former Test captain Younis Khan has been told he can appeal against his indefinite ban from the Pakistan cricket team.
“It’s the fundamental right of a player to file an appeal and Younis can also go through this process,” Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) legal adviser Tafazzul Rizvi said yesterday.
The PCB banned Younis for an indefinite period for indiscipline on March 10 the recommendation of an inquiry committee formed to investigate Pakistan’s lopsided defeats in Australia earlier this year.
Rizvi said that the cricket board had received a letter from Younis’ lawyer seeking clarifications on the ban.
“The PCB is just like a post office in this issue, a player can file an appeal to its governing board which will then forward it to the appellate tribunal,” Rizvi said.
The PCB set a deadline of 30 days from March 17 for Younis and the other six players who were fined and banned to appeal against their punishments.
Mohammad Yousuf, who retired from international cricket on Monday, was also banned for an indefinite period. The inquiry committee said Yousuf was involved in infighting with Younis which affected the team’s performance in Australia.
Yousuf said he could not understand why the PCB banned him, but had not decided whether he would file an appeal against the ban.
Rana Naved and Shoaib Malik were banned for one year and handed a fine of 2 million rupees (US$23,500), Kamran Akmal was fined 3 million rupees and younger brother Umar Akmal was fined 2 million rupees.
Rizvi said Naved had sent a legal notice to the PCB complaining against the ban and fine yesterday.
“We will respond to this notice very shortly as nobody can stop a person from serving a legal notice to anyone,” he said.
The PCB’s legal adviser said that the cricket board was also looking into a letter sent by Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi, who was handed a fine of three million rupees for ball tampering during the limited-overs series against Australia.
“We are also looking into the details of Afridi’s letter and will respond to it,” Rizvi said.
The Akmal brothers have so far not appealed against their fines.
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