da bet7： Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan Thursday demanded the InternationalCricket Council (ICC) to impose sanctions on India after they withdrewfrom the Asian Test Championship
31-Aug-2001Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan Thursday demanded the InternationalCricket Council (ICC) to impose sanctions on India after they withdrewfrom the Asian Test Championship.”The ICC should penalize India for not honouring the commitment,” thelegendary Khan said from Islamabad.The Asiad was left in a spin by India when it withdrew two weeksbefore the commencement of the championship citing security fears andpolitical hassles. However, the event manager decided to go ahead withthe tournament.”Had they not confirmed participation, it would have been a differentissue. But withdrawing two weeks back is a serious crime and it shouldnot go unnoticed. The ICC should impose penalty on India for breakingthe commitment,” Imran, who led Pakistan to the World Cup glory atMelbourne in 1992, said.The all-rounder said India had dented Pakistan’s kitty late last yearand did the same to the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) while Pakistanhelped them earn revenues worth million when they toured India in1999. He demanded reciprocity and urged the Pakistan cricketadministrators to think seriously about its relations with India.India cancelled a scheduled tour to Pakistan early this year whichresulted in an estimated $15million loss to the Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB). On the contrary, India is expected to have earned $50millionwhen Pakistan played two Tests and then the tri-nation series in 1999.”I am perplexed as India has no problems playing Pakistan in any othersport except cricket. I am sure there is some other reason behind,” hesaid with reference to India’s acceptance to send a 350-athletecontingent for October’s SAF Games in Islamabad.The cricketer-turned-politician said Indian Prime Minister Atal BehariVajpayee was interested in talks with Pakistan and ease out tensionbetween the two countries but he was not being allowed to meet withthe demands of the public by the right wing extremists.Commenting on Bangladesh’s early days in the exclusive Test club andbeing thrashed mercilessly by Pakistan here, Imran was of the viewthat they needed time to settle down and get used to the demands ofthe standards at the highest level.”Once a country is awarded Test status, the improvement comes inquantum. If you go back, Pakistan and India were also called ‘B’ teamswhen they started cricket. I think the Test nation comes underpressure when they are new but they are bound to improve,” he said.