Akram challenges sanction

out with a stigma to my name. I was wrongly implicated in the match-fixing scandal. I had nothing to do with it,’’ the left-arm fast bowler was quoted as saying by the local daily The News.

His family sources confirmed that Akram’s lawyers have filed the writ petition in the Lahore High Court but so far no date had been fixed for the hearing.

The commission had imposed a life ban on another former captain Salim Malik and fined five Pakistani cricketers including Akram. Though the commission did not implicate Akram and the others in match-fixing, it fined them between Rs 100,000 and Rs 300,000 for not co-operating with the inquiry.

The commission also recommended to the PCB that it should not make Akram the captain again in the future as it was not satisfied with his conduct. Akram filed the judicial petition after his appeal to PCB failed to evoke response.

Despite the team’s poor performance in recent matches, the Board retained Waqar Younis as the captain for the World Cup ignoring Akram. The left-arm speedster however got a berth in the 15-member squad for the mega event starting in South Africa next month.

Akram had said recently that the aim of his efforts to clear his name was not to get the captaincy back but to retire with a clear record.