An interesting tussle has developed between Pakistan Cricket Board and the minister of sports in Sindh, Mohammad Ali Shah over the organisation of two Twenty20 matches involving a World XI team later this month.
Published: May 10, 2012, 09:15 PM (IST)
Edited: May 10, 2012, 09:15 PM (IST)
Sri Lanka skipper Sanath Jayasuriya will captain the World XI team © AFP
Karachi: May 10, 2012
An interesting tussle has developed between Pakistan Cricket Board and the minister of sports in Sindh, Mohammad Ali Shah over the organisation of two Twenty20 matches involving a World XI team later this month.
Shah, who is also a well known cricket organiser and has remained a member of PCB’s governing council, told a press conference that he had signed a deal with a US-based company Xtreme Sports to host a World XI vs Pakistan XI T20 matches at the National Stadium here on May 25 and 26.
“We have managed to sign several leading former players from South Africa, West Indies, England for the match but the PCB is not cooperating with us and has made it an ego issue,” Shah said.
“Our purpose of organising these matches is to show the world that international cricket can be played in Pakistan and foreigners can play here without any problem,” he said.
According to Shah, former Sri Lanka skipper Sanath Jayasuriya will captain the World XI team which will also include South Aricans Justin Kemp, Charl Langeveldt, Paul Adams, Andre Nel and Richard Levi.
Shah claimed that West Indians Jerome Taylor and Adams Sanford have confirmed their participation in the proposed T20 matches while Dwayne Bravo, who is currently playing in the IPL for Chennai Super Kings, has agreed to be the part of World XI if his team fails to enter the semifinals of the tournament in India.
He said England player Owais Shah has also shown interest subject to his availability from county commitments. West Indies legend Alvin Kalicharan will be the team coach.
PCB officials, however, made it clear that the Pakistan team or its players announced for the Sri Lankan tour would not be made available for these T20 matches.
“We have an international tour coming up and the players are busy preparing for it,” the official said.
“Or else the matches can be held at a later date after proper consultations with us,” the official said.
He also made it clear that Shah had not informed or consulted the Board before signing a contract with the sports company.
“Who gave him the right to do this. How can he sign a deal for any event on behalf of the Pakistan team without our clearance or permission,” said the PCB official.
“There are lot of issues involved in organising such a match involving foreign players, including security and cooperation of relevant authorities and NOCs.”
Shah said everything had happened quickly as far as the match organisation was concerned.
“It all happened in quickly and we couldn’t contact the PCB Chairman (Zaka Ashraf) because he was out of the country.
Shah said the dates of the proposed T20 matches could not be changed since the World XI players have already been paid 10 per cent of their match fees as down payments while other arrangements were also started and he could not back-off from the plan now.
“We cannot pull-back now. Neither, we have an alternate plan and we are hoping that PCB will agree to help us,” he said. (PTI)
