Between the wickets: Plea against cricket team withdrawn

PCB counsel says petition filed to gain publicity.

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday dismissed as withdrawn a petition regarding the national cricket team’s performance in the 2015 World Cup.

Advocate Rizwan Gull, the petitioner, withdrew the petition after Justice Ijazul Ahsan remarked that the court could not do any thing on this front and the competent forum in this regard was the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Gull told the court that journalist Najam Sethi’s appointment to the board was political.  He said he had been interfering in PCB affairs despite submitting an affidavit with the Supreme Court to that end.

The board’s counsel said that the petition had been filed to gain publicity. He said Gull should have approached the PCB’s disciplinary body if he had any concerns.

The petitioner had named Prime Minster Nawaz Sharif, PCB Chairman Shahryar Ahmed Khan and PCB Governing Body Member Najam Sethi as respondents in the petition.

Gull asked the court to order an inquiry to establish the reasons for the team’s dismal performance. He said Sethi had cautioned fans against harbouring high hopes from the team. Gull said this established that the team’s losses had been predetermined.

He said senior PCB officials were no where to be found at the board’s headquarters in Gaddafi Stadium following the team’s loss to arch-rivals India in Adelaide.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25^th, 2015.