Big Bash League to rev up Pak cricketers: Zaka Ashraf

By Shoaib Ahmed

KARACHI, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) November 8, 2012: Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has appreciated the Pakistani cricketers getting a chance to play in the KFC Big Bash League (BBL) saying playing under Aussie conditions will help them become better cricketers.

PCB double standards comes to the fore yet again as stylish Mohammad Yousuf is yet to get NoC for featuring in President’s Trophy

Talking exclusively with TheSportsNEXT.com on Thursday, the PCB Chairman said that playing in Australia domestic cricket competition is a good opportunity for Pakistani cricketers.

"In Big Bash League, Pakistani cricketers make good money and get ample opportunities to play against the world’s top players on Australian wickets which is going to help them to achieve the competitive edge at international nationals”, Zaka Ashraf told this scribe.

The PCB has once again showed its double standards as on one side it has allowed top cricketers like Saeed Ajmal, Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi to play in the KFC Big Bash League but on the other it has stopped Mohammad Yousuf from playing in the domestic cricket tournament.

It is a good omen for Pakistan cricket that foreign cricket leagues are inviting them but at the same time it’s a hard nut to crack for the cricket fans in Pakistan that why Zaka Ashraf is yet to hand Mohammad Yousuf NoC to play in the domestic cricket competition.

The PCB refused to issue a non-objection certification (NoC) to Mohammad Yousuf for his participation in the ongoing President’s Trophy first-class cricket tournament.

Only last month, Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf had told this scribe at the National Stadium during the exhibition match between Pakistan Stars XI and World International XI that he was not going to risk Pakistani cricketers before the much-anticipated Pakistan-India cricket series as the national team can’t bear fitness problems to any of the top cricketers.

However, on the other hand, Mohammad Yousuf, who is out of PCB selectors’ favors for a long time, is still waiting for green signal from the PCB to play national domestic cricket tournaments but the PCB officials are keeping mum on his issue.

The PCB’s silence has prompted former skipper Rashid Latif to lash out at the cricket board officials who are not doing justice to the talent and experience of Mohammad Yousuf.

Rashid Latif wants Mohammad Yousaf in his domestic team Port Qasim Authority and he requested the PCB to issue him the required NoC in this regard but he is yet to receive the PCB version on the issue.

The PCB officials and authorities were not available to comment on the issue despite of several attempts.

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Zaka Ashraf settles Razzaq-Hafeez row

By Nadira Mushtaque

PCB chief settles differences among Mohammad Hafeez and Abdul Razzaq

LAHORE, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) October 19, 2012: Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday held a meeting with Pakistan’s Twenty20 skipper Mohammad Hafeez and veteran all-rounder Abdul Razzaq to settle their bilateral issues and imposed 0.1 million rupees fine on Abdul Razzaq, sources told TheSportsNEXT.com.

As per sources, the PCB authorities have backed the Twenty20 captain after Razzaq sprayed venom against him upon his return to Pakistan from Sri Lanka after Pakistan crashed out of the tournament in Semi-Finals.

Abdul Razzaq was of the view that he deserved a place in the playing-eleven and Mohammad Hafeez ruled him out of the match while skipper put burden on team management for making Razzaq sit out of the must-win match.

Following his media outburst, the PCB chief kicked Abdul Razzaq out of the squad for the upcoming Hong Kong Super Sixes where he was initially included as captain.

Sources also claimed that Abdul Razzaq’s inclusion in the Pakistan-India series was also under question for his breach of contract but the veteran all-rounder took a U-turn by submitting his apology to the PCB chairman.

Following the apology, Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf summoned both Abdul Razzaq and Mohammad Hafeez in his office on Friday where he meddled between the two all-rounders.

Sources said that during the meeting Abdul Razzaq offered his apology to Mohammad Hafeez for his remarks and PCB chairman resolved the issue between the two cricketers.

Sources also claimed that following the resolution of the issue, the PCB may recall Abdul Razzaq back into the squad for the Hong Kong Super Sixes 2012.


Later, speaking at a joint press conference, Abdul Razzaq publicly admitted his mistake saying the incident made him sad and now he was happy to move on forgetting the past.

Mohammad Hafeez told reporters, "There are conflicts everywhere but we should forget the past and think about the future".

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PCB chairman not happy with inconsistent Abdul Razzaq

By Nadira Mushtaque

Zaka Ashraf puts blame of Bangladesh's hesitance to tour Pakistan on Punjab government.

LAHORE, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) October 15, 2012: Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf said Monday that the cricket board has supported veteran all-rounder Abdul Razzaq consistently but he failed to come up with the goods on regular basis.

Talking exclusively with TheSportsNEXT.com, Zaka Ashraf said, “Selectors didn't want to select Abdul Razzaq for the ICC World Twenty20 2012 but I intervened to get him selected in the team but performance was not that remarkable to earn him an automatic place in the playing eleven”.

Talking about absence of senior cricketers in the domestic cricket tournaments, the PCB chief said the board has made it clear to all the players in the national circuit that they must play domestic cricket if they want to get considered for national selection. “None of the players would be allowed to play county cricket if they try to prefer it over domestic cricket”, he made it clear.

International cricket is returning to Pakistan’s biggest metropolis Karachi next week and the PCB chief was not only happy about it but he mentioned the board officials were keeping a very close look at the PakistanXIvWorldXI matches at National Stadium on October 20-21, 2012.

He stated that the International Cricket Council has been supporting the PCB on a number of issues especially in resumption of international cricket. He alleged that lack of security arrangements by the Punjab government never helped the PCB to make foreign teams tour Pakistan. He added that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) was almost certain to send its team to Pakistan but Punjab government’s refusal to provide sufficient level of security made the BCB to stop its team from touring the war-torn country.

Talking about gutsy players like Ahmed Shehzad and Zulqarnain Haider, Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf said that both the players are good international cricketers and the PCB supported both of them for a long time but both have psychological problems which is not helping their international careers.

“Zulqarnain Haider threatened selectors after they dropped him for the Australia series and Ahmed Shehzad showed indiscipline in a number of domestic matches against umpires. Services of sports psychologist Maqbool Babri will be taken for both the players”, he said.

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Pakistan team to win semi-final: Zaka Ashraf

By AM Khan

LAHORE, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) October 4, 2012: Chairman Pakistan Cricket Broad (PCB) Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf expressed his hope on Wednesday that the national cricket team would win semi-final against Sri Lanka because players are united and have performed very well throughout the ICC World Twenty20 2012.

Zaka Ashraf told local media here that Mohammad Hafeez was leading the team in good fashion as skipper and the team was fully capable to perform well.

The team would win World Twenty20 title because it has developed into a good combination, Zaka maintained.

To a query regarding Shahid Afridi’s future, he said: “Afridi is an outstanding all-rounder and has the ability to change the situation of match. I hope Afridi will perform as he was key player in past.”

"We have appointed a fielding coach and now team is showing good result in fielding,” he added.

He said that team would keep playing with the same spirit and perform well to bring more laurels for the country.

Captain Hafeez said that team would succeed in semi-final. “We will fulfill the hopes of the nation.”

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PCB appoints Javed Miandad as batting consultant

By Ubaid Awan

KARACHI (TheSportsNext) September 8, 2012: Former Pakistani captain and ex-head coach Javed Miandad has been appointed as batting consultant of the national cricket team for the upcoming 2012 ICC World Twenty20, sources told TheSportsNext.com on Saturday.

 

The 2012 ICC World Twenty20 is commencing from September 18, 2012 in Sri Lanka where cricket teams from across the world would vie for supremacy in the shortest format of the game.

Sources told this scribe that PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf made the appointment on Saturday after realizing the need to have senior professional with the team during the mega event.

Javed Miandad will remain with the Men in Green during the course of the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, sources added.

Javed Miandad, 55, who represented Pakistan between 1975 and 1996, is the country’s leading run scorer in Test cricket.

Regarded as the “greatest batsman Pakistan has ever produced” by ESPNcricinfo, Javed Miandad has previously worked with the PCB as batting coach of the national cricket team but his over-enthusiasm and habit of interfering into players’ issues made senior cricketers in the team to get him off the job in 2003.

Miandad has had a total of three coaching stints with the national cricket team.

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PCB chief may show Intikhab Alam exit door

By Ahmed Jatt

KARACHI (TheSportsNext) September 3, 2012: Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf has decided to do away with old legs in the cricket board by not renewing their contracts and shuffling their duties, sources told thesportsnext.com on Monday.

Sources who are responsible to implement PCB chief’s policies claimed that Mr. Zaka Ashraf is on a rebuilding course and is looking to inject new blood at the top positions of the cricket board.

They added that the name of former manager and current Director Game and Development Intikhab Alam is also in the list which the PCB boss is going to relieve in coming days.

When the TSN scribe asked the sources about Intikhab Alam’s likely removal, they said, “Yeah, you have learnt right. Zaka Ashraf is not happy with some of board's top officials and Intikhab Alam is amongst them. While the PCB boss is willing to allow some of the board officials to keep working, he is all set to stop journey of those officials who are with the board for a long time".

“Everyone knows that in the current setup, there is a strong lobby who have been getting hold of key positions in the board which may make it hard for PCB Chairman to remove Intikhab Alam”, sources added.

“Perhaps, it won’t be easy for Zaka Ashraf to remove such characters but he has experience of working in multinational culture which would help him overcoming the situation”, the sources said adding, “He (Zaka) restricted Intikab Alam earlier and now he is going to say him good bye”.

“Intikhab Alam is not alone in that list as some more board officials also will join him at exit doors of the PCB", sources claimed.

Another source who is also in PCB confirmed that Zaka Ashraf has renewed some of officials contracts and also signed some of those board officials contracts who lost their jobs recently as their previous contracts were over.

"Yes! Chairman Zaka Ashraf gave some of the board officials new contracts while some others got their contracts renewed. Wasim Bari is also among those who got new contracts (a three-month contract)”, they said adding, “Zaka didn’t offer same contracts to all and sundry and everybody got contract of different time periods ranging from three months to a year".

On the other hand, a political leader claimed that the PCB's current director games and development Mr Intikab Alam is trying to save his post as he has contacted some of the ruling party leaders. “If he gets their sympathies then he might survive”, he added.

It is merit mentioning here that chairman PCB Zaka Ashraf, who is also member of the ruling party's central executive committee and had acquired the top PCB post on political basis, has knelt down to political pressure in the past.

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PCB to launch Pakistan Premier League in 2013

By Tasawwar Abbas

LAHORE (TheSportsNext) August 29, 2012: Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf said Wednesday that the first edition of the Pakistan premier League will not be played until next year.

 

The PCB authorities have been planning the country’s international Twenty20 league in a bid to make international cricketers play in Pakistan which has been facing the threat of terrorism and the international cricket teams are not willing to tour the country ever since Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked in Lahore in 2009.

Talking to reporters in Multan the other day, Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf said, "I think, we should be able to launch it sometime in March next year and we will be inviting overseas players to participate in the event and make it successful.

All the other regional countries including India (Indian Premier League), Bangladesh (Bangladesh Premier League) and Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka Premier League) have successfully launched their versions of Twenty20 leagues but the untoward law and order situation in Pakistan is not helping the PCB cause to have its own Twenty20 league.

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