Karachi players in trouble after infighting issue

Dolphins submit detailed report to the PCB.

KARACHI:

A thorough report on the infighting issue among Karachi Dolphins players has been submitted by the team management to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), national selection committee and Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA).

The affairs of Karachi Whites and Dolphins had been marred by infighting for quite some time but the issue gained steam during the recently-concluded Faysal Bank Super-Eight T20 tournament where abusive language became prevalent with coach Tauseef Ahmed on the receiving end as well.

KCCA has already initiated an inquiry with six-month bans being suggested by the management for Fawad Alam and Khalid Latif, and a lengthier ban on Sohail Khan.

Dolphins crashed out of the event in the group stage after losing two of their three matches that led to the resignation of Karachi’s chief selector Rashid Latif. The former captain was also annoyed that key batsman Khalid Latif was dropped against Rawalpindi Rams.

“The board is monitoring the case closely and we’ve received the detailed report as well,” a PCB official told The Express Tribune. “We’ll first see what action the KCCA takes because Tauseef is a paid employee of the PCB and we’ll protect him to maintain supremacy of a coach. If Tauseef feels that the KCCA hasn’t taken appropriate action then he can refer the case to us and we’ll take strict action against the culprits.”

In the match against Bahawalpur Stags, Fawad threw his bat and helmet in the dugout and abused the management as well when demoted to number six. Meanwhile, at the end of the match, Sohail abused the coach for not playing him in earlier matches.

It has been mentioned in the report that Fawad and Sohail, along with some other players, were not in favour of playing under skipper Mohammad Sami. Among other points, it has been explained that the attitude of Latif was not appropriate and it disturbed the atmosphere of the dressing room and lowered the morale of the team.

We’ll take action after players’ reply: Farooqui

Meanwhile, KCCA Secretary Ejaz Farooqui said that the association is waiting for players to respond before taking a decision on their punishment.

“As soon as we get their replies, we’ll see what action we need to take. We can’t tolerate players who abuse and undermine the authority of a coach, captain and team management,” Farooqui said.

Farooqui added that the management has not accepted Latif’s resignation because it wants the former captain to return. “Latif did an excellent job as chief selector and we want him to return,” he added. 

President’s Cup to begin today

SNGPL will be looking to carry on from where they left off last time as the President’s Cup starts today in different centres of the country.

All star players will be seen in action as the national selection committee has ordered that all the players, who have been named in the 30-man preliminary squad for the ICC Champions Trophy, need to turn up in order to remain eligible for final selection.

The 10 teams have been divided into two pools with SNGPL, PQA, KRL, ZTBL and NBP forming Pool A, with PIA, Wapda, SBP, UBL and HBL completing Pool B.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 5^th, 2013.