Basit Ali quits PCB post to protest 'bookie' accusations

Former Pakistani cricketer Basit Ali has reportedly resigned from his post in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) after Islamabad Regional Cricket Association (IRCA) president and member of the newly installed Management Committee (MC) Shakil Sheikh called him a 'bookie'.

Sheikh had claimed that Ali, who was the Coach Regional Cricket Academies in Karachi, used to run a book in Karachi on cricket matches and he was a bookie and the IRCA official had also termed Ali 'the don of Karachi cricket'.

According to the Express Tribune, Sheikh also went on to label former captain and the Zaka Ashraf-appointed Director Game Development and Chief Selector Aamir Sohail as a corrupt individual who used to charge a fee for fielding Lahore players in first-class cricket.

However, those comments have not gone down well with Ali, who has decided to take Sheikh into court over the remarks and stated his decision to step down in the wake of Sheikh's comments.

Stating that he is still living in a rented house and coaching domestic side Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), Ali said that had he been a 'don', he would have had to go through such hardships.

The veteran cricketer also urged PCB patron and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to take notice of Sheikh's remarks.