Relation between PCB and Miandad sour further

Karachi: The war of words between Pakistan cricket Board and former captain Javed Miandad intensified on Monday with the chief organizer of the national T20 championship taking a jibe at Miandad for making an issue out of not being properly invited for the event.

Miandad had complained in the national media yesterday that the board had sent him just a single invitation for the national T20 championship that began on Sunday and have also not kept him in the organising committee. "I don`t think this is such a big issue it is unfortunate that a person of Miandad`s calibre is making an issue of this. There is no issue with the cards how many does he want I will deliver them personally myself to him at his home," Wazir Ali Khoja, who heads the championship organizing committee, told reporters at the stadium today. Miandad, who is also director-general cricket in the board on a lucrative salary and package, said he had received one invitation to attend the tournament which was an insult to him and all those players who had served Pakistan cricket. But Khoja noted that Miandad didn`t need an invitation to come to the stadium. "He is the Director-General in the board and he can come anytime. No one needs to invite him. He can come and play his role in the organization. The invitation card is sent as a routine practice to all former players," Khoja said. He said that it was unfortunate that Miandad was making an issue of nothing and said that the former captain should be assisting the board in making the tournament a success. Relations between Miandad and the board soured after the former said in an interview that 90 per cent of the policy decisions taken by the board were wrong and damaging the sport in Pakistan. Miandad further upset the board and its chairman Ejaz Butt by playing a big role in having the national T20 championship moved from Lahore to Karachi due to the dengue fever outbreak in the Punjab capital. Khoja also dismissed complaints by the advisor on sports to the Sindh chief minister Haleem Adil Sheikh that the board was mistreating former players and also snubbing him. "Haleem Adil Sheikh wanted to organize a gala concern during the tournament to raise funds for the flood victims we felt given the situation in the province it would not be appropriate to hold a concert. Instead we suggested he organize a exhibition match between the Miandad eleven and Shahid Afridi eleven after the tournament but he got upset and angry with us," Khoja said. Miandad, a veteran of 124 tests, has so far stayed away from the tournament although he played a lead role in getting President Asif Zardari to issue directives to move the event from Lahore to Karachi. PTI