Shahrukh Voices Shoaib’s Need for The Team.
April 4th, 2008After
receiving two consecutive jolts, Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar got his
share of much needed support from none other than IPL’s Kolkata Knight
Riders owner Shahrukh Khan. The Bollywood superstar made it clear that
he wants to find a way out so that Shoaib can play in the Indian
Premier League.
Shahrukh Khan clearly said, “I will talk to the
Board about this move taken by them. I want to know the reason behind
such a decision and I will try to see what best I can do.” SRK also
added, “Shoaib is banned from international cricket and IPL is not
international. So, I don’t know why he cannot play in the league.
Shoaib is very important for the team and I will talk to the
officials.” The Shoaib Akhtar saga seems to be never-ending. But words
from King Khan — the owner of Kolkata Knight Riders of which Shoaib is
a part of, can just reignite the hope for the bad boy and can set the
ball in motion for clearing the way for Shoaib’s participation in the
IPL.
Shahrukh Khan’s assertion came a few hours after
IPL’s Commissioner Lalit Modi made it clear that Shoaib can’t play for
the Knight Riders, expanding the net of Pakistan Cricket Board’s 5-year
ban on the speedster. Lalit Modi said, “Unless and until Shoaib gets
himself cleared from the 5-year ban, he can’t play in IPL. We can’t
allow a banned player to play in IPL. If one of our players would have
been banned similarly we wouldn’t have liked him to play anywhere else.
Ban on disciplinary grounds is a serious matter, till the time he is
cleared, we will give the ‘Kolkata Knight Riders’ an option to replace
Shoaib with another player.”
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However,
Shahrukh’s words must have come as solace to Shoaib, who has been
making a case for himself. Shoaib had earlier said that he wants to
know where he has faultered for which he has been banned from playing
international cricket. He added, “I have done nothing wrong. If the
Board has banned me on disciplinary grounds, then the Board should
inform what wrong have I done.”
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