After long waiting the cricket board decision on the 'Rawalpindi Express', Shoaib Akhtar, has been announced and as per media report he has been absolved from the charge of misdeamour on the cricket field during the third Test against India. The speedster had fallen during the followthrough of a delivery at Rawalpindi but doubts cropped up about his injury or otherwise as in Pakistan's second venture he played a defiant and gutsy knock of 28 when the Pakistan batting was tottering and the country was on the brink of a heavy defeat.
Captain Inzamamul Haq had made a scathing attack on Shoaib for letting down the national lineup and not coming on to bowl with his volcanic pace. Shoaib had explained later that batting was not difficult even with injury but bowling, especially sending deliveries with his known venom and speed, was a different proposition.
However, the Cricket Board, its chairman Shaharyar Khan and Chief Executive Ramiz Raja thought it right to constitute a four-member medical commission to find out the actual nature and extent of the injuries to Shoaib, Umar Gul, Moin Khan, Abdul Razzaq and Shabbir Ahmad.
One finds from the PCB-appointed medical panel's report that there was a stress injury on the 11th rib cage of Akhtar. Nevertheless the PCB chairman had his own reservations and thought it might have been an old injury or sustained during the match when the bowler fell down.
In any case it is quite clear that he couldn't have bowled after his 21.2 overs in India's knock. If at all, as chairman Shaharyar feels, it was a recurring injury it should have been determined before the third Test began and the playing squad was named.
The PCB chairman said it had been decided not to impose any penalty on the bowler but the board felt, as also the doctors, the management and the captain that his sudden step to leave the field had a demoralising effect on the team. Victory in any match is the result of a combined effort of all the members of the side. How can one man's departure from the ground or absence make such a difference in the complexion of the game that other players failed to put up the expected maximal performance? This may be the chairman's logic or supposition but it is difficult to be accepted by the followers or experts of the game. Was Shoaib Akhtar going to be made a scapegoat for a defeat against India, which was too tragic to be true? Did the batsmen and the other bowlers put up a display which was expected of them?
For India every member of the squad - bowlers, batsmen and the wicket keeper - contributed fully to his team's clear-cut success in the third Test and the series. No doubt Zaheer Khan, the seamer, got unfit during the tour and he was sent back home for treatment. Harbhajan Singh, the spinner, is still getting treatment or reculperating at home. Ashish Nehra, the medium-pacer, came to assist the team after becoming completely fit. No hue and cry was raised in India on their players' injuries for that is something which may happen to any player.
Reputed fast bowler Wasim Akram, who recently announced his retirement from international cricket, has questioned the wisdom of setting up a medical commission to go into the injury sustained by Shoaib. "The medical inquiry was a big mishap (mistake)", according to Wasim. It should have been avoided. He pointed out that the Indian side was far superior to Pakistan's and they beat us on merit.
Wasim also wondered how can the injury be assessed after two weeks? "Nobody knows where the medical commission's report is and what the aim of the inquiry was", the legendary opening bowler and former captain said.
Shoaib said before leaving for England he can't imagine faking an injury. I take pride in playing for the country.
Whatever may be the doubts of the PCB officialdom about the behaviour on-and-off the field of one player, Shoaib Akhtar, what was required of the board was a full-scale investigation into the cricket debacle against India. The series - both ODI and Test - was a success in the sense that all the matches were seen by a full house. No untoward incident took place and the Indians themselves want to play anywhere in Pakistan, including Karachi and Peshawar. However, the inquiry committee, under the chairmanship of an apex court judge, will find out the reasons behind the disaster - the failure of the much boosted fast bowling, the brittleness of the batting, the difference in the level of the fielding in the two teams, flaws in the selection etc. There were tiffs among the players since the captain could not unify the national squad to face India. These are the problems to be determined by the inquest committee.
The medical commission and its findings are just an eyewash. The injuries were a secondary issue. The significant issues are the 'whys' and 'hows' of the humiliation at the hands of the Indians. That a high-level commission should find out and the PCB should appoint a panel as soon as possible.
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