Pakistan former captain Javed Miandad and a senior Pakistan Cricket Board PCB official are in favour of having the National T20 Championship shifted from Lahore to Karachi due to the dengue fever outbreak in the Punjab capital.
Reports said that Miandad, who was unhappy with the working of the board and its Chairman Ijaz Butt had started maneuvering to get the championship shifted from Lahore. “Basically Miandad is upset with Butt and not supporting the board’s stance that the championship should be held on schedule in Lahore from September 25 despite the dengue outbreak,” a source said.
He said: “Miandad, who is Director General (cricket) in the board has already started garnering support from the affiliated regional associations, taking part in the event and also from his contacts in the government.”
“Miandad is doing everything within his power to convince the affiliated units and to convey their reservations to the board over having the event in Lahore at a time when the dengue fever outbreak has already claimed 41 lives,” he added.
The board has been steadfast in its stance that it had been assured by the Punjab government that the tournament could be held in Lahore without any issues and that there would be proper precautionary measures taken to keep the players safe.
He said Miandad was planning to bring up the issue during a planned meeting with President Asif Zardari, who had invited several sportsmen and women and officials, including PCB chairman, for a meeting to discuss plans to organise charity matches for the flood victims in Sindh.
On Monday some former players also advised the board to not have the national T20 event in Lahore as they believed that because of the dengue fever outbreak players would not able to focus on their cricket.
Miandad is presently on a war path with the board and recently criticised it publicly, saying that 90 percent of the decisions taken by the board were faulty and damaging the sport in Pakistan.
Miandad has not yet responded to the show-cause notice issued to him by the board for violating his terms of employment.
