by
Nadeem Khan

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RealAudio users: Click on the icons to hear an excerpt from the conversation. Audio clips may take more than five minutes to load Description: Discarded Pakistani opener Aamir Sohail on the ban, Majid Khan, the World Cup Quarter-Final against India, and his future

Few openers in recent memory have had careers as illustrious, some say, and as blighted, the PCB says, as Aamir Sohail's. Indian cricket supporters aren't so divided. When he swung at and missed Prasad in the Quarter-Final of the 1996 World Cup, he had created a special place for himself in their hearts. He is always welcome to come back and give it another whirl. But when Pakistan tour India in May for the Independence Cup, they will be without the services of the southpaw from Lahore. A month long suspension, following a spat with Majid Khan, Chief Executive of PCB, quickly became a two-year ban, after he accused Wasim Akram and others of accepting bribes and throwing important games.

When I called him, he was in a reflective mood and vowed to fight for justice.

Q:| Let's begin with the two-year ban. Is this the end of your international career?
A:| No, I don't think so. I am going to fight it. They are trying to finish my career but I will fight for my rights.

Q:| You have 60 days to appeal the ban. Have your solicitors advised you on what course of action you should take?
A:| We have formed a strategy and they are thinking about what should be the next step. We have to work out a few details.

Q:| This two-year ban was clamped on you because, in the opinions of the Disciplinary Committee, you had tarnished the image of the country and created embarrassment for the PCB. In other words, they do not believe your accusations are true.
A:| First of all, whatever evidence I have, I have already given to the Government of Pakistan. Second, I didn't want to embarrass my country. Look, there are black sheep in Pakistan (cricket administration). Take care of them and the country wouldn't be embarrassed. I only spoke because everywhere we go, people talk about the Pakistani cricket team indulging in mass-betting and such activities. I have always advised the higher authorities to look into the matter.

Q:| Why do cricketers from Pakistan have such a tough time avoiding such controversy?
A:| That is my point. If there is so much controversy all over the world about Pakistani cricketers...what has the PCB done so far? I asked the government and the authorities to look into this matter and the PCB didn't like it.

Q:| Apparently, you have not given the PCB sufficient proof to investigate. What is it that they are looking for?
A:| I don't know what they are looking for. There has been so much said and written about this in newspapers world-wide, I think it was enough for the PCB to investigate. They didn't, insisting, instead, on more proof.

Q:| To some people it seems strange that you waited till you were suspended to bring up the bribery allegations. Why did you bring them up now when you have known about them for years?
A:| Since 1996, I have gone on record in at least three papers in Pakistan that the PCB should investigate the betting charges. I spoke to the PCB officials personally and told them we should do something. I even quoted other sources and suggested the allegations should be investigated. Rather than taking the required steps they put the ban on me.

Q:| Is there any doubt in your mind that this two-year ban is the result of some influence applied by Majid Khan?
A:| I am not in a position to say anything about that. In the opinions of the experts, I am one of the best openers in the world. And yet, time and again, the PCB has dropped me without reason. I don't know what sort of grudge they have against me. The treatment rendered to me throughout Maji's reign has been less than exemplary.

Q:| What really happened during the Wills Cup Semifinal in Lahore?
A:| They misbehaved with my relations--my brother-in-law, uncle and sister. They said that the particular place where my relatives were sitting was reserved for the PCB officials, but they were no signs at that time that the area was reserved for the PCB. After the incident, the very next day, there was a makeshift sign pasted at the spot saying the area was reserved for PCB officials. That whole incident seems so premeditated. I feel everything against me was premeditated.

Q:| Does Majid Khan hold a grudge against you?
A:| That's for sure.

Q:| Is it true you were approached by Middlesex but Majid Khan chased your prospects away?
A:| It actually happened. That will be confirmed by the Middlesex officials and my agent in England. Majid bad-mouthed me. Middlesex called the PCB to check my schedule, to see if I could play for the county if I didn't have engagements for Pakistan, and rather than replying to the point, they said I was a notorious guy and a bad influence on the team.

Q:| So are you playing for the English county?
A:| I don't know. Apparently the contract is no longer valid. So the PCB has been successful, so far.

Q:| You have been decribed as "hot-headed" and "temperamental".
A:| Oh I am an aggressive person, especially out there in the middle. You must be aggressive, have the killer instinct to win matches. That is what makes Pakistan such a difficult team to beat. Despite the bad organization, we have triumphed on many occasions through sheer aggression. As an opener, that quality is even more important. How you dictate terms early in the innings sets the mood and the momentum for the rest of the team. But I don't know why people say I am ill-mannered or rude off the field. I can think of ten international cricketers right now who are much more hot-headed than I am. When you think about it, it doesn't really take a whole lot for people to start disliking you if they get it in their heads to do so.

Q:| I spoke with Wasim before he left for Sharjah. I questioned him about the marijuana episode in the West Indies. He said the charges were made up by the West Indian authorities in an effort to "disturb" Pakistan's campaign. Do you believe him?
A:| At this point I would doubt everything that everyone involved is saying.

Q:| I also asked Wasim about his associations with bookies including Zafar Ali. He replied, "I have no idea."
A:| He is perfectly entitled to his opinions.

Q:| Let's go back to the quarter finals of the World Cup. You were leading the side in Bangalore in the absence of Wasim Akram. Did you, at any point, doubt his injury?
A:| Well, it was very suspicious the way he pulled out. Everybody, people in Pakistan, officials, players in the team reacted a lot to that. Here he was for days telling everybody that he would play and then he pulls out at the last moment. It really brought the morale of the team down. You can imagine the pressure we were under when our best player and captain pulled out.

Q:| Was that game fixed?
A:| No idea.

Q:| You and Saeed got Pakistan off to a decent start, making 84 from 10 overs. You had even crossed fifty. Then at 113/1, you had a few words with Prasad and you were out the next ball. What was really said?
A:| Actually there was never anything said. We were playing with each others psychologies. I was going for every ball that was being delivered. We had our strategy. We knew if we scored 150 or 160 in the first 20 overs it would be fairly easy for the middle-order to get the remaining runs. The way we were playing, leaving our stumps, playing cross-batted strokes, hitting them over the top--we were bound to miss one.

Q:| Did you need those strokes? You were in such a wonderful position and you had a lot of batting still to come...
A:| Bearing in mind that the wicket was deteriorating, making it difficult with each passing over for the batsmen to play strokes, our strategy was to bring the run rate to less than four an over. Towards the end it became impossible to even take a single on that surface.

Q:| After the World Cup, in an interview with a local paper, you commented on Miandad's retirement saying that the team would fare better now that Miandad is no longer there to meddle in team affairs. What events triggered such a comment?
A:| I said that?

Q:| I believe so, yes. Perhaps you were misquoted.
A:| I must have been misquoted. I have all the respect for Javed Miandad. He is the greatest cricketer Pakistan has ever produced.

Q:| In the current side, who are you closest to? Who is your "best friend"?
A:| I am close to quite a few guys. Saeed Anwar and Rashid Latif are good friends.

Q:| Have they any opinions on the ban?
A:| Yes, Saeed is shocked. So is Rashid. Rashid went on the record saying that the day they announced the ban was the darkest day in the history of Pakistan cricket.

Q:| In many regards, the Sharjah tournament was a disaster for Pakistan. Just how much was the team affected by your absence?
A:| The selectors can answer that question better. It is for the public in general to decide if I was missed.

Q:| What went through your mind as you sat and watched the games on TV?
A:| That the game is bigger than I am. The game will go on even if I am not in the team.

Q:| Is Ramiz Raja a long term solution to Pakistan's opening crisis?
A:| I am probably not the best person to answer that. For three years, I have been asking the selectors to consider giving Ramiz more chances. He is immensely talented and I would always want him in the side, even as a one-drop.

Q:| What will it take for you to get back into the team? Would you swallow your pride and apologize to Majid Khan if required?
A:| Things are not that simple. There are bigger issues at hand. Majid is just one of them.

Q:| Do you think you will ever play for Pakistan again?
A:| I must fight. I have not lost faith in worldly justice. Inshallah, I will be proven right. Look, I could have gone on, keeping all that I have seen and heard to myself. But I think the people of Pakistan and the supporters of our cricket team deserve the truth. Unfortunately, the truth will kill the careers of a lot of people involved with the game in Pakistan, people who are admired and respected and called heroes. That is why there is so much fuss being created over this issue.

I will fight because I am a fighter. Whether I will play for Pakistan again is not important. I am relieved to have a clean conscience. It is more important to me that the game is played honestly. I have always played honorably and I will not play until I can play honestly.

Q:| Your family has received threats ever since your allegations. How are you coping with that?
A:| I believe in the protection offered by Allah. I have nothing to fear. There are elements who would like to suppress the truth. I doubt if they can. I have the prayers of a lot of people. I believe I will succeed.

Q:| What will Aamir Sohail be doing five years from now ?
A:| Let's see what develops. I want to play. But I will only play with honor.

Aamir Sohail in Numbers