Sami fined and banned in Pak tourney

Pakistan's discarded Test fast bowler Mohammad Sami's disciplinary woes continued as he was slapped another fine and ban in the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy tournament for excessive appealing.

Sami, who was fined two match fees by the Karachi City Cricket Association for having a brawl with teammate Atif Maqbool recently during the tournament, faced the wrath of the match referee against Abbotabad this time.

The KCCA, this time though,  feels the penalty of Rs 10,000 and one-match ban on Sami is a conspiracy to oust him from the next match against KRL, which is a must win encounter for the Karachi side to qualify for the final.

"We have sent a letter to the head of the domestic cricket operations in the Pakistan Cricket Board," KCCA president Sirajul Islam Bukhari said.

"We are also not happy with the fine and ban on Sami; the ban is harsh decision as he is our captain and a key player. And from what we have been told by our team management, the Karachi players were justified in feeling unhappy over the umpiring standards in the match against Abbotabad," he said.

Sami, who has played 35 Tests and 83 ODIs, has been out of the Pakistan team for the last few months.

"The match referee handed him a letter outlining the fine and ban before the start of the final day's play and this obviously rattled Sami whereas the final day's proceedings were crucial to Karachi's chances of qualifying for the final," one source said.