The Pakistan Cricket Board says the national team's manager in recent series against Australia and New Zealand pushed for heavy sanctions against players after detailing a spate of disciplinary problems and bickering in the team. The PCB Monday revealed Abdul Raquib referred a number of incidents to the PCB inquiry committee for behavior he said contributed to the team's heavy losses to Australia in both Test (3-0) and limited-overs series (5-0). On the recommendations of the inquiry committee, the PCB last week banned Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved for one year and fined them each two million rupees ($23,500). Wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal was fined three million rupees ($35,200) and his brother Umar Akmal was fined two million rupees. Shahid Afridi was fined 3 million rupees for ball tampering during the limited-overs series against Australia, while former captains Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan were barred from representing Pakistan for indefinite period. The PCB said Yousuf and Younis developed differences during a limited-overs series against New Zealand in the United Arab Emirates which eventually led to Younis stepping down from the captaincy. Raquib, according to the PCB, wrote in his manager's report that “the team unity completely broke down” when the then captain Younis decided to drop Yousuf for the second ODI. “When Yousuf was told he was dropped on account of his poor fielding, he curtly replied ‘I have been fielding like this for the last seven years',” PCB quoted Raquib as saying in his report. “He (Yousuf) publicly argued with the team coach (Intikhab Alam) and the resulting disquiet in the team led to the dropping of Shoaib Malik and Umar Akmal.” The manager conceded he was unable to take any corrective action and remained “totally helpless to arrest the sharply falling team morale during these events.” Raquib also mentioned one more incident in his report which led to serious indiscipline in the team. After the defeat in the fifth and final ODI against Australia “a brawl took place between Yousuf and the team coach on the selection of the team as the (makeshift) captain Shahid Afridi dropped Younis and Malik.” The Akmal brothers violated players code of conduct during the Test series against Australia and gave unnecessary statements in the media. “After the second Test in Sydney when Kamran Akmal was apparently being dropped for poor performance he started giving statements in the Australian press which was a clear breach of the player's code of Conduct,” the report said. “Consequently Umar Akmal complained of a back injury, however after a medical check up no injury was found. Umar Akmal also violated the code of conduct by giving statements to the press.” The manager also handed unspecified fines to the two frontline fast bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Umar Gul during a Test match in New Zealand. “A heated argument took place in which nasty words were exchanged and both players were fined as a result,” the manager had written in his report. The PCB has already named Afridi and Akmal brothers in the 15-men Twenty20 World Cup squad but is yet to finalize who will be captain.
