Shoaib Akhtar in trouble : PCB, IPL, ICL, Lawsuits !

Shoaib Akhtar is in real trouble. After the Pakistan board banned him for 5 years, IPL chief Lalit Modi announced that till the PCB lifts the ban, he cannot play in the IPL.

The Superstars new ball bowlers after a few nervous wides, soon settled into a disciplined line and were rewarded in the 4th over, when Vignesh castled the mainstay of the Heroes batting line Maher, for only 2, reducing the Heroes to 16/1 in the 4th over. The run out of the dangerous Razzaq on 14 had the heroes in a bit of a bother at 23/2.

At the end of the 5th over the Heroes were delicately placed at 24/2. At the half way mark of their innings the Heroes were held back to a modest 57/2 by some great bowling from the superstars. Two big sixes from the bat of Rayudu, off Arnold in the 11th over helped the Heroes break the shackles to a little extent. However the Superstars spin spearhead, Syed got into the act right away getting Rayudu's wicket for 25 & ending the dangerous partnership developing between Rayudu and Boje.

At the end of the 15th over the Heroes were placed at 107/4 with Boje holding the key from the Heroes' perspective. Boje's however was done in by a slower one from (the Bald Assassin) Thiru kumaran, for a well made 47 in the 17th over. A top class effort in the field from the defending champions prevented any major onslaught from the Heroes in the last 5 overs and they were finally restricted to 147/6 in their allotted 20overs.

In reply the Superstars came in with their tested explosive combination of Harvey and Vignesh. However the combination did not get off to a good start with Vignesh sent back by Razzaq without troubling the scorers. Kemp castled Harvey in the 2nd over to put the defending champions in deep trouble at 4/2. At the end of the 4th over the Superstars were placed at 22/2 with Law and Arnold stuck in the repair act. However with Arnold's wicket in the very next over the Superstars were on the back foot at 23/3. By the 9th over the Superstars were placed at 48/4 needing another 100 off 66balls at a challenging rate of 9 runs per over & 6 wickets in hand.

So if IPL is out and international cricket is out, Shoaib had a great option in the ICL. Around 20 ex-international Pakistani cricketers are playing in the ICL already and Shoaib could join that. But now after Kapil Dev ’s statement that ICL would like to avoid any clash with any board, well the ICL option also looks dim.

Shoib Akhtar after being banned, came up with some serious allegations against the PCB. He claimed that the PCB chief Dr Nasim Ashraf tried to “extort” payments from him. So now the PCB wants Rs.20 crore for the damages. The ICC anti corruption will now interview Shoaib on his claims that he was offered money to throw off matches.

Shahrukh Khan , the owner of Kolkata IPL team will be requesting the IPL chief Lalit Modi to allow Shoaib to play the IPL. Well Shahrukh Khan is believed to be a close friend of Lalit, and Modi surely would have notified SRK on this before announcing this. So BCCI / IPL is now trying to appease the Pakistan board for sure. Why would you ban Shoaib from IPL when his team owner wants him. PCB has also allowed Shoaib to play the IPL, why would BCCI decide to ban ?

It has been pretty harsh on Shoaib. Banning him for 5 years is almost like a life ban. PCB atleast kept the option of Shoaib playing in the IPL or the county cricket but IPL and BCCI are moving one step extra to ensure that the Rawalpindi express is not seen performing in any cricket. With IPL starting in 2 weeks, and Lalit Modi and SRK ’s different opinions, make us believe that in the next 2 weeks, we will surely have some developments. Watch this space !

Source : http://www.newsline365.com/