Shoaib Akhtar to stand before appellate tribunal tomorrow

Lahore, Aug 19 (UNI) Maverick Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has been asked to stand before the appellate tribunal in charge of hearing his appeal in the case pertaining to Rs 300,000 fine imposed on him for missing a national camp in Karachi and for not appearing before the disciplinary committee earlier this month.

After holding an internal meeting here yesterday, the two-member appellate tribunal constituted by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to summon the fast bowler tomorrow.

''After discussing the procedure to be adopted for carrying out the proceedings and collecting necessary information from the PCB officials in this regard, we have decided to summon Shoaib Akhtar to appear before the tribunal on Monday at 3.30pm,'' said tribunal memeber Moin Afzal.

When asked if the tribunal would also call camp-commandant Talat Ali or skipper Shoaib Malik, Moin said,''If deemed necessary, more witnesses would be called in during the hearing.'' Shoaib, in his appeal, has said that the disciplinary committee did not provide him with a fair chance to plead his case. He has also pointed out that he skipped the camp after informing captain Shoaib Malik.

Shoaib has also pleaded that since he received the disciplinary committee's notice on August 10 which asked him to appear before it on August 7, he is not guilty of deliberately missing the hearing session.

The tribunal is likely to announce its decision tomorrow itself as the national training camp for the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup is scheduled to begin here at the Gaddafi Stadium from Tuesday.

UNI