On 10/3/2010 PCB imposed bans and fines on seven cricketers: Mohammed Yusuf, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Rana Naved, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal. This followed Pakistan’s disastrous tour of Australia. During the tour Pakistan’s performance was poor and it appeared some players did their level best to lose the matches.
Was there match-fixing? ICC anti-corruption unit was present during the tour but that doesn’t mean much.
Did the players lose the matches because they did not like each other? Was there groupism? Whatever be the reasons the players had to be disciplined and PCB acted.
Some former players have expressed shock against actions cricketers saying there should no ban for poor performance. The actions of players show it was more than poor performance. It was sabotage. Action against Shahid Afridi may not have anything to do with ball tampering as ICC had acted against him.
CNN-IBN conducted a poll “Is Pakistani cricket team the most mismanaged in the world?” and 90% voted yes, 10% no.
Disagreements between players are not new in Test cricket. When disagreements result in losses that is a matter for concern and people in authority need to act and that is what PCB has done.
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