ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Khalid Mahmood and veteran Pakistani cricketers demand the International Cricket Council (ICC) to ban Indian skipper Virat Kohli over a recently emerged ball-tampering controversy.
In a video released by a South African newspaper group, Kohli was seen shining the ball during India’s first test against England at Rajkot this week in a similar manner South Africa captain Faf du Plessis was found guilty of ball-tampering and fined a match fee on Tuesday.
Must Read: India’s Virat Kohli caught on camera ‘tampering’ with the ball
“He [Kohli] should also be fined,” said former leg-spinner Abdul Qadir while insisting that the Indian star batsman should be banned.
Qadir stressed that if the world cricketing body failed to move against Kohli itself, then all the member boards should urge it to take immediate action against him.
He added the ICC must ensure that rules for every cricketer were same in its book.
“When it comes to banning a Pakistani player for a dubious bowling action, the ICC steps in promptly and imposes a ban. But for an Indian player, it usually backs out.”
Also Read: I’m no cheat, says du Plessis, insists cricket authorities opened ‘can of worms’
Another former Pakistani cricketer and chief selector Haroon Rasheed noted that du Plessis was actually caught by umpires, but in Kohli’s case, they kept mum.
“According to the ICC rules, an action against a player is only taken if he is reported by a referee or a field umpire,” explained Rasheed.
Former PCB Chairman Khalid Mahmood claims that the ICC behaves differently whenever an Indian player was found involved in some kind of misdoings.
“We don’t see same ICC rules being implemented for India. Such inclination of the global cricket council towards India is bad for the spirit of the game,” he added.
Mahmood demanded that the match referee and field umpires, who overlooked the incident, should also be banned along with Kohli.
