Banned Sharjeel slams PCB tribunal for unfair treatment

Agencies
December 7, 2017

Karachi, Dec 7: Banned Pakistan opener, Sharjeel Khan said he has been treated unfairly by the PCB tribunal in the Pakistan Super League spot-fixing case, a claim rejected by the Board as "a ploy to gain sympathy".

Interacting with the media for the first time in nearly 10 months, Sharjeel claimed that the punishment of five years ban handed out to him by the PCB anti-corruption tribunal was unjust and that he would appeal the ban in the courts now.

"I swear by God that I am innocent and that I didn't accept any offer to spot-fix. I have fully cooperated with the PCB throughout this case and I expected justice from them. I am sorry to say the PCB tribunal unfairly tried to implicate me in the case," Sharjeel said.

The left-handed opener was handed a five-year ban -- half of it suspended by the tribunal in September, while a full five-year ban and one million rupees fine was imposed on another batsman, Khalid Latif in the PSL fixing case.

Sharjeel appealed the ban with an independent adjudicator of the PCB but it was dismissed last month.

He said now he had no option left but to approach the High court for justice.

"I also appeal to the Prime Minister, Army Chief and Chief Justice to look into my case and help me in getting justice," Sharjeel said.

As expected the pleadings of Sharjeel and his intention to approach the High court has not gone down well with the PCB which is expected to release an official statement shortly.

"It is nothing but a ploy to gain sympathy. The tribunal found him guilty on all charges of the anti-corruption code.

He was provided with a transparent process to clear his name.

But he was found guilty," a PCB official said.

He said the PCB didn't expect Sharjeel to react this way.

Sharjeel also claimed that there appeared to be some hidden agenda behind banning him and he hoped the truth would come out soon.

"The punishment handed out to me has not only been painful for me and my family but also for my well wishers and supporters. I will take every step to clear my name and stage a comeback," he added.

His lawyer, Shaighan Ejaz confirmed they didn't accept the PCB decisions as the board had produced on evidence to support the ban on his client.

"We will shortly be filing a petition in the High court although the PCB quietly amended a clause in their anti- corruption code which says we can now only take our case to the international court of arbitration for sports in Switzerland," Ejaz said.

"While the tribunal announced its decision on August 30, 2017, the changes were made in Article 7 of the Code on July 28, 2017 which says that spot-fixing convicts aren't allowed to file a writ against the decision before any Pakistani court and only before the CAS in Switzerland."

Ejaz said Sharjeel was not in a position to afford the heavy expenses involved in filing the appeal with the CAS and would seek justice from Pakistani courts.

The lawyer claimed neither the tribunal nor the lawyers were informed about the change in the clause by the PCB which showed malafide intention from them.

Sharjeel also insisted that the head of the PCB's anti- corruption unit, Colonel Azam Khan had forced him to confess to the crime to face less punishment.

"He told me either I do it or forget about playing cricket again.

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Agencies
February 12,2020

Mumbai, Feb 12: Former Indian greats Kapil Dev and Mohammad Azharuddin have been left disappointed by the behaviour of the Under-19 team after the World Cup final where they were involved in an altercation with their Bangladeshi counterparts.

After Bangladesh won the final beating India by three wickets (via DLS) at the Senwes Park on Sunday, the players of the two teams were seen engaging in an exchange of words and even some pushing and shoving on the field.

"I would like to see the board (BCCI) take some strict action against the players to set an example. Cricket is not about abusing the opponent. I am sure there is enough reason for these youngsters to be dealt with firmly by BCCI," Kapil was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

"I welcome aggression, nothing wrong in it. But it has to be controlled aggression. You can't cross the line of decency in the name of being competitive. I would say it was unacceptable that youngsters put up such an obnoxious display on the cricket field," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sanctioned five players, including three from Bangladesh -- Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain and Rakibul Hasan --and two from India --Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi for the scuffle.

Azharuddin also reiterated what Kapil said, insisting that players need to be disciplined.

"I would take action against the errant Under 19 players, but I also want to know what role has the support staff played in educating these youngsters. Act now before it is too late. The players have to be disciplined," Azharuddin said.

Earlier, Bishan Singh Bedi has lashed out at the Priyam Garg-led team, saying their behaviour was disgusting and disgraceful.

"You bat, bowl and field badly�happens, but there's no excuse for behaving badly. The behaviour was disgusting and most disgraceful. The innocence of that age was not visible at all," Bedi told Mid Day.

Bedi, who represented India in 67 Tests and 10 ODIs, said the behaviour of the Bangladesh cricketers is not our problem.

"Look, what Bangladesh do is their problem, what our boys do is our problem. You could see that there was abusive language used," he said.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar keep on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

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News Network
May 1,2020

Melbourne, May 1: Reclaiming the top spot in Test cricket has brought smiles back on their faces but Australia coach Justin Langer says beating India in their own den remains the ultimate test and their numero uno status will be put to test when they clash with the Virat Kohli-led team.

After a tumultuous transition phase post the ball-tampering scandal, Australia on Friday displaced India as number one side in Test format but Langer is aware that it does not take long for the situation to change.

"We recognise how fluid these rankings are, but at this time it was certainly nice to put a smile on our faces," Langer told Cricket Australia website. "We've got lots of work to do to get to be the team that we want to be, but hopefully over the last couple of years not only have we performed well on the field, but also off the field," Langer added.

The former left-handed opener underlined what he felt will be the ultimate test of character.

"Certainly a goal for us has been the World Test Championship ... but ultimately, we have to beat India in India and we've got to beat them when they come back (to Australia).

"You can only judge yourself as being the best if you beat the best and we've got some really tough opposition to come," Langer put his priorities in place. The team he insists needs to get better as now others will come gunning for them.

"Getting to No.1 is a great thing, but when you're No.1, you're always the hunted," Langer said. "We've been the hunters for a while, now we're the hunted and we need to get better and better."

Langer also hoped that white ball team under Aaron Finch will win the World Cup. "I know how hard it is to win World Cups ... everything has to go right. One day, I'd love to see Aaron Finch with all his mates lift that T20 World Cup above his head."

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