Naved-ul-Hasan eager to 'clear things' with PCB

Pakistan fast bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan has said he is ready to meet the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt to "clear things out" with regard to the one-year ban slapped on him by the board. Naved-ul-Hasan's appeal hearing was postponed until June 26 and in the meantime he was asked to approach the PCB and request it to reconsider his punishment.

"I am ready to meet the PCB chief to clear things out," Naved told The Express Tribune. "I will respond to the PCB call immediately but so far I haven't received any word since my hearing was adjourned on Saturday."

Naved-ul-Hasan, along with several of his team-mates, was punished by the PCB following the tour of Australia in 2009-10. He was banned for one year and slapped with a Rs 2 million fine. All the punished players, barring Naved-ul-Hasan, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf, met the PCB and had their bans revoked, and fines lifted or reduced. Yousuf did not file an appeal against his ban because he had retired from international cricket.

Younis' situation, however, is unclear. His ban was reversed by the PCB but he was not selected in the Twenty20 or Test squads for the tour to England, which begins later this month. "As per order by Irfan Qadir [the arbitrator], we will send another showcause notice to Younus in a couple of days," PCB lawyer Talib Rizvi said.

Over the last couple of weeks the sense has emerged that the board will not let Younis back in unless he apologises for what they deem to be his mistakes, as the other returnees have done. Butt said last week that Younis's return would require clearance from the board, an issue that wasn't deemed to be an issue at all with Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi and the Akmal brothers.