Shoaib may challenge show cause issued by the PCB

Karachi:

Controversial fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar may challenge the show cause notice issued to him by the Pakistan Cricket Board as he believes the Board has adopted a discriminatory attitude towards him.

Sources close to Shoaib said the speedster had consulted his legal team including a senior lawyer already representing him in a case in the Lahore high Court over the show cause notice sent to him by PCB Director of Cricket Operations Zakir Khan.

Zakir has asked Shoaib to submit an answer by July 31, explaining why he violated three clauses of his central contract by appearing on a television show without permission from the Board.

The source said Shoaib has gone through the transcript of the television show and felt he had said nothing to damage the image of Pakistan cricket and that every senior professional player had a right to talk on the sport and its related issues or on the issues affecting his career.

"The indications are that Shoaib is not going to accept the grounds on which the show cause notice has been sent to him and will challenge it," he said.

Shoaib said on the show that he had thought about suing the Board for causing him damages by releasing his medical report and also talked about filing legal case against the team management for misleading people about his injury.

"Shoaib has learnt about several incidents where other players have done television interviews and got paid for it without bothering to seek any formal permission from the Board even though they were also centrally contracted," another source said.

Since the World T20 victory, many Pakistani players have been appearing on television shows and giving paid interviews.

The source said Shoaib had asked his lawyers to obtain recordings given by some players which contained more controversial remarks than made by him in his recent interview.

Shoaib, who turns 34 next month, has fallen foul with the establishment and was recently also overlooked for the preliminary list of 30 probables for the Champions Trophy while being ignored for the one-day series in Sri Lanka.