Karachi, May 4
Beleaguered speedster Shoaib Akhtar heaved a huge sigh of relief as the appellate tribunal of the Pakistan Cricket Board today decided to suspend the five-year ban on him for a month, paving the way for his participation in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The Appellate tribunal granted the temporary relief after Shoaib and his lawyers moved an urgent application yesterday that the ban be suspended so that he can earn his livelihood in the IPL Shoaib argued before the three-member panel that it would take a long time for the tribunal to reach a verdict on his regular appeal against the ban and therefore he should not be made to suffer for that duration.
The tribunal had refused to stay the ban earlier this week but had allowed the fast bowler to play anywhere outside Pakistan.
But the governing council of the IPL barred him from the tournament saying he would not be allowed until the ban is lifted.
Shoaib was bought by the Shah Rukh Khan-owned Kolkata Knight Riders for $ 425,000 in the players' auction.
Justice (retd) Aftab Farrukh, who heads the tribunal, told reporters that the ban would remain suspended until the the regular hearing starts into the appeal filed by Shoaib from June 4.
“Even the disciplinary committee of the board which banned him has not stopped him from playing abroad and not suspending the ban to allow him to play and earn his livelihood abroad would have been injustice with him,” Farrukh said.
“Obviously it is going to take so time to dispose off this case. The tribunal felt that preventing him from playing in the league would have been an additional penalty on him,” he added. He made it clear that the ban would be reinforced from June 4 when the hearing re-starts.
“This is a great relief for me as I am keen to play in the IPL. But this is just one battle won and we still have to win the final case,” Shoaib told reporters after the hearing at the National Cricket Academy.
“It is a big relief but my eventual aim remains to be cleared of the ban and play for my country,” he added.
Shoaib has not played any competitive cricket apart from one first-class match in late February after which he was banned.
He was not selected for the home one-day series against Zimbabwe and was under ban when Bangladesh played in April.
— PTI
