The Pakistan Cricket Board on Wednesday suspended national selector Mohammad Ilyas for violating the terms of his employment contract by appearing in the media on contentious issues. The PCB has already issued two show cause notices to Ilyas, a former Test player and father-in-law of cricketer Imran Farhat, after he spoke in the media on the Shahid Afridi issue. “There is no doubt Ilyas violated his contract terms and is liable to disciplinary action as is Shahid Afridi. He was suspended as national selector,” a source said. “The contract of Mohammad Ilyas with PCB has been suspended with immediate effect for violating the Clauses 8 and 9 of the same,” said an official of the board.
“The show cause notices were issued to Ilyas on June 3 and June 6 to which he replied. His reply was not found satisfactory as it was observed that he participated in a talk show despite being warned. His case will now be referred to the PCB Disciplinary Committee as per PCB Conduct of Disciplinary Proceedings Policy 2007. The Committee will be formed in due course and he will be informed about the date of his appearance before that Committee accordingly,” he added. Afridi named Ilyas as the person who was heading a lobby against him because according to the sacked skipper, Ilyas believed that it was Afridi who had dropped Imran Farhat from the team.
The flamboyant allrounder used some graphic words to describe Ilyas. And when asked about him in a press conference on Tuesday, Afridi remarked that he didn’t want to say anything on the man as everyone knew his background and from where he belonged. Ilyas in retaliation hit out at Afridi in the media and used some disparaging language against him on a television show in which the banned Test captain Salman Butt also participated. The source said that there was a debate in the board that if it took action against Ilyas, it would make it easier for the board to convince everyone that it was not willing to spare anyone when it came to disciplinary matters. The PCB officials and lawyers are due to appear in the Sindh High Court on Thursday in connection with the petition filed by Afridi against the disciplinary committee of the board and its proceedings.