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Botham is biased, stupid, foolish: Mohsin
Pakistan's chief selector Mohsin Khan has lashed out at former England captain Ian Botham, describing him as a "biased, stupid, foolish" person.
Karachi:
Pakistan's chief selector Mohsin Khan has lashed out at former England captain Ian Botham, describing him as a "biased, stupid, foolish" person who has an axe to grind with Pakistan cricket.
Botham, who was in Sky Sports commentary team for the recent England series, has been campaigning for Pakistan cricket to be banned by the ICC since the spot fixing scandal broke out after the fourth Test at Lord's in late August.
Botham has given statements calling on cricket playing nations to boycott and ban Pakistan cricket and Mohsin said in a television interview that he was not surprised by Botham's comments.
"He (Botham) has always had a problem with Pakistan. But it is sad that now he is not just a former player but also a commentator and expert on Sky Sports so one expects him to be unbiased in his comments on any issue," the chief selector said.
Mohsin said other former players on the commentary team including Nasser Hussain, David Lloyd, David Gower and Mike Artherton had also criticized Pakistan cricket after the spot fixing scandal but they had kept a balance in everything and were not biased in their assessments.
"But Botham has shown himself to be a biased, stupid, foolish and a ignorant person by making such derogatory remarks against a top cricket nation. Sky should consider removing him from their panel," Mohsin said.
Mohsin pointed out even in the past when the all-rounder played against Pakistan he had problems with the team. "In 1984, he publicly humiliated Pakistanis by stating he would not even want to bring his mother-in-law to Pakistan," Mohsin noted.
Mohsin felt the fact that Pakistan beat England in the 1992 World Cup had still not been accepted by Botham nor the fact that Imran Khan made him eat his words in a English court.
"People like Botham should not be on any commentary team, he has no right to demand banning a cricket nation because a few of its players are accused of spot fixing and the charges have not been proven as yet," he said.
Mohsin, however, admitted that the current spot fixing controversy Pakistan was facing could have been avoided had 15 years back the Board taken definitive action against those who were accused of fixing matches.
"Action should have been taken against them then and things would have been different now, I don't think any player would have had the courage to even think of getting involved in such things," Mohsin said.
Botham, who was in Sky Sports commentary team for the recent England series, has been campaigning for Pakistan cricket to be banned by the ICC since the spot fixing scandal broke out after the fourth Test at Lord's in late August.
Botham has given statements calling on cricket playing nations to boycott and ban Pakistan cricket and Mohsin said in a television interview that he was not surprised by Botham's comments.
"He (Botham) has always had a problem with Pakistan. But it is sad that now he is not just a former player but also a commentator and expert on Sky Sports so one expects him to be unbiased in his comments on any issue," the chief selector said.
Mohsin said other former players on the commentary team including Nasser Hussain, David Lloyd, David Gower and Mike Artherton had also criticized Pakistan cricket after the spot fixing scandal but they had kept a balance in everything and were not biased in their assessments.
"But Botham has shown himself to be a biased, stupid, foolish and a ignorant person by making such derogatory remarks against a top cricket nation. Sky should consider removing him from their panel," Mohsin said.
Mohsin pointed out even in the past when the all-rounder played against Pakistan he had problems with the team. "In 1984, he publicly humiliated Pakistanis by stating he would not even want to bring his mother-in-law to Pakistan," Mohsin noted.
Mohsin felt the fact that Pakistan beat England in the 1992 World Cup had still not been accepted by Botham nor the fact that Imran Khan made him eat his words in a English court.
"People like Botham should not be on any commentary team, he has no right to demand banning a cricket nation because a few of its players are accused of spot fixing and the charges have not been proven as yet," he said.
Mohsin, however, admitted that the current spot fixing controversy Pakistan was facing could have been avoided had 15 years back the Board taken definitive action against those who were accused of fixing matches.
"Action should have been taken against them then and things would have been different now, I don't think any player would have had the courage to even think of getting involved in such things," Mohsin said.
Topics mentioned in this article
Cricket
Ian Terrence Botham