Akhtar fined Rs34L, banned for 13 matches

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board on Thursday suspended fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar for 13 international matches on four indiscipline charges that included hitting teammate Mohammed Asif with a bat in South Africa last month, a board official said.
Akhtar was also given a Rs 34 lakh fine, Shafqat Naghmi, the board’s chief operating officer and chairman of the disciplinary committee said after a hearing.

“Shoaib Akhtar is banned for 13 international matches,” Naghmi told a news conference. Akhtar has already served nine matches after missing seven World Twenty20 games in South Africa and the two home Test matches against South Africa.

He will be available for selection for the last of the five limited overs game against South Africa later this month.

“I am not going to appeal against the ban, I am hungry to play for Pakistan,” Akhtar told reporters. “I have suffered enough, it was all in the heat of the moment and I’ll make sure to be extra careful in the future,” he added.

Naghmi said Akhtar is one incident away from the end of his international career. “If he is found guilty in any indiscipline act, he faces life ban.” The PCB deducted 9.5 points from Akhtar’s 20 disciplinary points that are in the players’ central contract.

The other three charges against Akhtar were: missing a training camp in August and opting to play a charity match in England; giving statements against the PCB in various newspapers; and conducting an unauthorized press briefing on his return from South Africa.