Akhtar up for a fight, files appeal against ban

Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar filed an appeal against the five-year ban slapped on him by the Pakistan Cricket Board. Akhtar's lawyers Mohammad Ali Lashari and Mohammad Azim Danyal met PCB's Chief Operating Officer Shafqat Naghmi and submitted the appeal to him.

A large media contingent had gathered at the stadium and there was a small protest against the ban outside the main gate. "The ban is illegal and unconstitutional and we intend to have it reviewed and removed," Danyal said at Lahore's Gaddafi stadium.

Akhtar himself showed up at the end of the meeting and said he had appealed as per the procedures of the PCB. "I came to submit the appeal according to the procedures of the PCB and I have done that. I respect the law, PCB and the chairman (Nasim Ashraf)," he was quoted as saying.

Akhtar also told the gathering of media persons and his fans to "be patient till the PCB decides on the appeal" and added that "we need to learn to respect the law." He also thanked all those, including former captain Imran Khan, Tauqir Zia and Haneef Abbasi, who backed him in the whole episode.

Naghmi said that as per the procedures of the Board, PCB Chairman Nasim Ashraf will head the appellate committee to hear the appeal.

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