Shoaib Akhtar’s Cricket Career Would Have Ended in Early 2000s, Late Jagmohan Dalmiya Stepped In to Support the Pacer: Former PCB Chief Tauqir Zia
Shoaib Akhtar's international career would have been over in 2000-01. Akhtar, who made his international debut in 1997, had come under the scrutiny in 1999 when the members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) deemed his bowling action illegal and wanted his ban from international cricket. But the Rawalpindi Express found support in than ICC chief Jagmohan Dalmiya.
Former Pakistan cricket chief, Lt General Tauqir Zia has revealed that if it wasn’t for Jagmohan Dalmiya, Shoaib Akhtar's international career would have been over in 2000-01. Akhtar, who made his international debut in 1997, had come under the scrutiny in 1999 when the members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) deemed his bowling action illegal and wanted his ban from international cricket. But the Rawalpindi Express found support in than ICC chief Jagmohan Dalmiya. Akhtar, who is regarded as the fastest bowler in the cricketing universe, was embroiled in controversy when his action was deemed illegal. Shoaib Akhtar Trolled Once Again, This Time For his Definite Plan to Dismiss Virat Kohli (Read Tweets).
"Jagmohan, who had been president of the ICC and was an influential voice, supported us a lot in the Shoaib Akhtar bowling action case,” Lt General (retd) Tauqir Zia said. “He took a stand for us despite the ICC members insisting that Akhtar's bowling action was illegal. But due to the stance taken by Dalmiya and myself the ICC eventually conceded that Akhtar had a medical flaw in his bowling arm since birth which gave him hyper elbow extension and he was allowed to play on,” he added. Danish Kaneria, Faisal Iqbal Involved in Ugly Twitter War Over Leg-Spinner’s Allegedly Failed Sledging of Brian Lara During 2006 Pakistan vs West Indies Test Match.
Tauqir Zia, who presided over the PCB from 1999 to 2003, also stated that the primary reason over Pakistan’s disappointing 2003 World Cup campaign was due to the differences between the players. He had earlier revealed to GTV News Channel about making a phone call to than chief selector Wasim Bari and asking him to drop senior cricketers such as Wasim Akhtar, Waqar Younis and Saeed Anwar from the national team after their disastrous campaign in South Africa.
“After the World Cup I was very disappointed with the way the players had performed because it was the best possible side we could have picked for the World Cup,” Zia said. “I was hearing about these groupings and differences within the team even before the tournament and I suspected some of them under-performed because of their conflicts.” Pakistan were knocked out of the Super Six stage of the 2003 World Cup.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 16, 2020 11:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).