The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Tauqir sings a different tune

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 25, 2004

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Sport - Cricket

Tauqir sings a different tune

LAHORE, MAY 24. After threatening to sue PCB following its instruction to umpires to keep a close watch on bowlers with suspect action that includes his son Junaid, former PCB chairman Tauqir Zia did a volte face and welcomed the move.

``I am not suing anyone. And I am not at all upset or unhappy with this letter Shaharyar has sent to the umpires,'' Tauqir said.

``I am looking at the instructions to the umpires to keep a watch on bowlers with bowling action problems in a positive manner. The way I look at it, after the incidents of Shoaib Akhtar and Shabbir Ahmed being reported, I think the Board is trying to prevent similar incidents in the future and trying to protect its upcoming bowlers,'' he added.

In his letter to the umpires, PCB chief Shahryar Khan had listed the names of bowlers like Shabbir Ahmed, Riaz Afridi, Junaid Zia and Shoaib Akhtar and asked umpires to keep a close watch on them. Earlier sources close to the former PCB boss had said, "Tauqir's point of view is that his son has gone through a lot of remedial measures on his bowling action as have the other bowlers like Shoaib and Shabbir and it was unfair of the board chairman to look at their actions suspiciously before the start of the domestic season.''

Junaid has played for the Pakistan senior team making his debut in one-day internationals against Bangladesh last year in September in four matches and was reported after the ICC Youth World Cup held in New Zealand three years ago. — UNI

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