KARACHI: In an unprecedented crackdown
on indiscipline, the Pakistan Cricket Board on Wednesday indefinitely barred its
former captains Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf from playing for the country and
imposed one-year bans on Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan in the wake of the
team’s disastrous tour of Australia.

The PCB also put the Akmal
brothers — Kamran and Umar — and Shahid Afridi on probation for six months
besides imposing fines between Rs 2-3 million for indiscipline on the tour after
implementing the recommendations of an inquiry committee formed to evaluate
Pakistan’s dismal performance.

PCB’s tough stand virtually puts an
end to the international careers of Younis (32) and Yousuf (35) — two of the
country’s most accomplished batsmen in the middle order — and is bound to bring
about wholesale changes in the team.

Pakistan were whitewashed in
all the three formats of the game in Australia during the recent tour in
December-January, following which PCB had set up a six-member inquiry committee
headed by Board’s chief operating officer Wasim Bari.

The committee
had recommended that Yousuf and Younis should no longer be part of the national
team in any format because of their bad influence on the team and that Malik and
Rana be banned for 12 months and fined Rs 2 million each, the PCB said in a
statement.

PCB spokesman Nadeem Sarwar said the Board had decided to
implement the recommendations of the inquiry committee to salvage Pakistan
cricket.

“The committee was an independent set up and they
interviewed around 13 players and studied the reports of the manager, coach,
assistant coach and captain before taking a decision,” Sarwar said.

The players, however, would have the right to appeal against the
decisions and they can also talk to PCB Chairman Ejaz Butt for a review of the
same, Sawar said.

PCB’s legal adviser Tafazzul Rizvi, who was a
member of the inquiry committee said that the players under the law had the
right to appeal in any court against their punishments.

“The inquiry
committee has based its recommendations on the hearings we held with the players
and team officials and also after going through the reports of the team manager,
coach, assistant coach and captain,” he said.

“The inquiry committee
has done what it felt was necessary to put Pakistan cricket back on the right
track,” he added.

The Board said that it had banned Yousuf and
Younis from playing for Pakistan but they could continue to play domestic
cricket and in foreign leagues.

“Mohammed Yousuf and Younis Khan,
keeping in view their infighting which resulted in bringing down the whole team,
their attitude has a trickle down effect which is a bad influence for the whole
team. They should not be part of national team in any format,” the statement
said quoting the committee report.

The inquiry committee’s report on
Afridi said: “For the shameful act of Shahid Afridi, which has brought the game
and country into disrepute, he be fined Rs 3 million.

“A warning be
issued to him by the PCB Chairman and he be put on probation for six months,
during which his conduct be strictly monitored.”

The punishments are
set to impact the composition of Pakistan’s World Twenty20 Championship. The
team is the defending champion in this format and the 15-man squad for the event
is due to be out by the end of this month.

With Afridi also on a
six-month probation, it is quite likely that a new captain will be named for
Pakistan’s upcoming international tournaments.

The PCB has stopped
short of calling the punishment on Yousuf and Younis a life ban.

“They will not be part of any Pakistan team in any format from here
on. A life ban means they cannot play domestic cricket or any other similar
cricket, but we are not stopping them from that. They can play domestic cricket
or county cricket here and abroad,” Rizvi said.

“As and when the PCB
deems appropriate, these players will be considered for selection for the
national team,” said a PCB statement.