PCB waives off 50% match fee fine imposed on Azam Khan for displaying Palestine flag
Karachi: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday completely waived off the 50 per cent match fee fine it had imposed on Azam Khan for displaying the Palestine flag on his bat during the ongoing National T20 Championships here.
Azam, the son of former Pakistan captain Moin Khan, was fined 50 per cent of his match fee by the PCB match referee two days back after he refused to remove the Palestine flag sticker from his bat.
The wicketkeeper-batter was found to have violated Article 2.4 of the PCB Code of Conduct For Players and Players Support Personnel for repeated failure to comply with the instruction or directive of an umpire during a Match.
The PCB did not give any reason for completely waiving off the fine nor did it explain whether Azam had agreed to take off the sticker from his bat for the remaining matches of the tournament.
''Azam Khan's 50 per cent fine imposed by match officials has been reviewed and waived off by the Pakistan Cricket Board,'' the PCB said in a brief release.
''The Karachi Whites wicketkeeper-batter was fined 50 per cent of his match fee for being found guilty of committing a level-I offence during his side’s National T20 Cup 2023-24 match against Lahore Blues at National Bank Stadium, Karachi.'' As per ICC rules, players and team officials are not permitted to wear, display or otherwise convey personal messages on their equipment unless approved in advance by both player or team official’s cricket association and PCB Cricket Operations Department.
The fine led to a furore on social media with cricket fans and people criticising the Board for imposing the fine.
The match in which Azam was fined was televised live. He was playing for the Karachi Whites against Lahore Blues.
Azam has not played for the national team since 2021 but is a well-known figure in Pakistan cricket circles due to his big hitting abilities in T20 format and is also a regular on the franchise cricket circuits worldwide.
During the recent ODI World Cup in India, Pakistan's wicketkeeper-batter Muhammad Rizwan had also tweeted in support of the Palestine people in Gaza but escaped any fine from the ICC which said it was his personal opinion.
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MP: Decomposed body of woman found in fridge in Dewas house, former tenant being questioned
Dewas, Jan 11: The decomposed body of a woman was found inside a refrigerator in a house in Madhya Pradesh's Dewas city on Friday, following which a former tenant was taken into custody for questioning, police officials said.
The saree-clad woman, who was wearing jewellery and whose hands were tied along with a noose around her neck, may have been killed last year, an official said.
The house is located in Vrindavan Dham Colony under Bank Note Press police station limits, the official added.
"The woman is in her 30s. We suspect she was killed in June 2024. After a foul smell started emanating, neighbours called the landlord who opened a portion of the house. The woman's body was found in the refrigerator, the shelves of which had been removed. He then alerted police," Dewas Superintendent of Police Puneet Gehlot told reporters.
The house is owned by one Dhirendra Shrivastava, who lives in Indore, the SP said.
"Shrivastava had rented his house to one Sanjay Patidar of Ujjain in June 2023. A year later, Patidar vacated the house but continued to keep his belongings in a study room and the master bedroom. He told Shrivastava he would vacate this portion later," Gehlot said.
"Patidar used to visit the house once in a while. Recently, the current tenant asked the landlord to unlock this portion of the house. The landlord showed this portion of the house to the tenant but then locked it again, since Patidar's belongings were inside, and switched off power supply on Wednesday," said Bank Note Press police station inspector Amit Solanki.
The incident came to light since the refrigerator stopped working after electricity was switched off and a foul smell started emanating from that portion of the house, Solanki added.
"Patidar has been taken into custody and is being questioned," the inspector informed.
