Petition filed in LHC against Pakistan cricket team’s poor show

Petitioner asks court to order for a judicial inquiry and take action against those responsible for Pakistan's defeat

LAHORE: The cricket team's performance in the World Cup 2015 has been challenged before the Lahore High Court, with the petitioner pleading the court to investigate and unearth the reasons behind the poor show.

The petition has been fixed for hearing before Justice Ijazul Ahsan of the LHC on February 24.

The petitioner, Advocate Rizwan Gul, has named Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Shahryar Khan and PCB executive committee chairman Najam Sethi as respondents.

Gul submitted that Sethi has already admitted that fans should not have high expectations from the team in the tournament. This, he claimed, means the defeat was pre-planned.

Read: Disappointed fans stage mock funeral for cricket team after defeat

The petitioner added that the team has played fewer international matches than other countries participating in the game’s biggest competition and Sethi further said that countrymen must not forget that most of the team’s regular bowlers were injured and the batsmen were not experienced either.

He said neither Khan nor Najam Sethi nor Shakil Sheikh (head of the Cricket Committee) were available in the PCB offices the day after Pakistan team’s shocking defeat to arch-rivals India, which was reflective of their mind-set about the team’s performance in Australia.

He prayed the court to order a judicial inquiry into the matter and to take action against those held responsible for Pakistan's defeat in two matches.

Read: #PakvWI: Flopped, dropped and mocked

Pakistan team is at the bottom of Pool B after losing both matches against West Indies and India.

Cricket fans in Multan had also held a mock funeral for the national cricket team on Saturday after a record-shattering World Cup defeat at the hands of the West Indies.