ISLAMABAD, April 1: Temperamental Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar was on Tuesday handed a five-year ban for his numerous offences in one of the toughest decisions taken by the current set-up of the Pakistan Cricket Board while leg-spinner Danish Kaneria escaped with a reprimand for his outburst against the PCB early this year.

Shoaib, the 32-year old controversial speedster who is dubbed as the Rawalpindi Express for his ferocious pace, was awarded the severe punishment on Tuesday for a series of offences that includes disciplinary issues, breach of Code of Conduct, fitness rows and a number of unpleasant on and off-field incidents, a list of which was distributed in a three-page factsheet to the media by the PCB officials.

Announcing the decision at a press conference here this afternoon, Chairman PCB Dr Nasim Ashraf said: “Shoaib Akhtar is ineligible to play any match for the Pakistan team in future, both at the domestic as well as international level.

“It is a sad moment for Pakistan and for the PCB to impose such a ban but since he has been a habitual offender and has damaged the image of Pakistan cricket, the board has lost confidence in him.”

“Shoaib can appeal against the verdict within seven days to the governing body. The five-year ban will be applicable from today (April 1),” he added.

He further said that the Governing Board of PCB had given full mandate to the disciplinary committee to probe the offences and come up with a verdict.

Commenting on Shoaib’s contract with the Indian Premier League (IPL), the PCB chief said: “With one move we could cancel his IPL contract but this is fairness of the verdict that we would not move against his individual commitments.”

The disciplinary committee was headed by Lt Gen (retd) Munir Hafeez while other members included Farooq Rehmatullah, Justice (retd) Ijaz Yousuf, PCB Director Operations Zakir Khan and Nadeem Akram.

Reminding the mediamen of PCB’s move to impose a fine of Rs 3.4 million and a 13-match ban on the maverick pacer for hitting fellow pacer Mohammad Asif with a bat just days before the start of the World Twenty20 Championship, the PCB chief said that Shoaib was informed at the time that any act of indiscipline in future may result in a life ban but even that didn’t stop him from being erratic.

Commenting about the conduct of Danish Kaneria, Dr Ashraf said: “This is his first ever offence in the game so it was recommended by the disciplinary committee to issue a strict warning to him.”

Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, demoted in the Central Contract category had blasted the PCB in a rare outburst early this year.

Earlier in the day, the hearing of both Shoaib and Kanaria took a mysterious turn when it was learnt that the two players have been asked to appear before the disciplinary committee at the Fauji Fertlizer Company (FFC) headquarters in the highly restricted Cantonment area of Rawalpindi.

Under heavy guard of the military troops, the venue of the hearing was kept a secret until the small hours this morning and according to reports, none of the two players as well as the large media contingent were given any inkling about the details of the key session scheduled for later in the day.

Lt Gen (retd) Munir Hafeez while talking to media, later said: “We have forwarded our recommendations to the PCB. The disciplinary committee heard both the players at length and we also went through the various show cause notices and the history of the cases provided to us by the PCB. We opted for a way which will be helpful for both the players and the board.”

Chronology of disciplinary actions taken against Shoaib Akhtar

Sept 1997: Dropped from Pakistan one-day squad for a series in Toronto on the basis of tour manager’s report of an earlier visit to England by the ‘A’ team.

Dec 1999: Banned for illegal bowling action.

Feb 2000: Banned for a Test and fined Rs50,000 ($1,800) after breaching players’ code of conduct on tour of Australia.

Jan 2001: Banned for illegal bowling action for a second time.

Nov 2002: Fined 50 percent of match fee, banned for one One-day International for throwing a bottle into crowd during a Test in Zimbabwe.

Dec 2002: Suspended one-Test ban for ball tampering.

May 2003: Banned for two ODIs and fined 75 percent of match fee for ball tampering during a tri-series match in Sri Lanka.

Oct 2003: Banned for one Test and two ODIs for using obscene and offensive language towards South African Paul Adams in Lahore Test.

Dec 2004: Fined 40 percent of match fee for taunting batsman during Test in Australia.

Jan 2005: Fined 25 percent of match fee for excessive appealing in ODI in Australia.

Oct 2006: Banned for two years for testing positive for nandrolone. Ban lifted on appeal two months later.

Aug 2007: Fined $5,000 for leaving training camp without permission. Fine suspended on appeal.

Oct 2007: Banned for 13 international matches and fined Rs3.4 million ($120,300) for four breaches of discipline including striking team-mate Mohammad Asif with a bat before World Twenty20 Championship in South Africa. Also put on two-year probation.

April 2008: Banned for five years by PCB for violating code of conduct while under probation period.—Reuters