Incessant Gibbers

My worst fears have materialized. Some sort of understanding (DEAL!) have been reached between PCB and someone which has resulted in a very unusual decision. A decision by which a banned player has been un-banned for a month and will again be banned after a month. Is it a joke?!! No folks, its Pakistan Cricket!

Obviously the IPL organizers wouldn’t force the PCB to allow this relief for Shoaib mainly because their already successful event doesn’t need a new controversial figure in an unusual way. The KKR team requesting PCB is another unlikely case because they do have Umar Gul in their side. And in any case they can only play 4 international players. With Umar Gul, David Hussey, Hafeez/Butt and Brad Hodge in their line up, it is going to be tough for Shoaib to find a place. Their fast bowling department is good with Ishant Sharma and Umar Gul so it’s interesting to see who’ll miss out.

The PCB earlier requested BCCI to allow Shoaib to participate in IPL (according to media reports). This leads us to believe that the PCB, on one hand is determined to finish off Shoaib, while on the other hand they are keen to avoid a financial loss for him. Contradictory display of behavior, nothing unusual!

So it’s probably the pressure on PCB to release Shoaib Akhtar for IPL. The pressure of public or some political interference for sure, and the uncertainty in handling the case has lead to this decision.

What remains to be seen is how Shoaib Akhtar reacts to the imminent ban. Will he be content to play IPL and serve the ban? Or, will he continue to fight his case with the same vigor? I hope it’s the latter.