Former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar refused on Thursday to appear before the inquiry committee formed to investigate the heated exchange between him and anchorperson Dr Nauman Niaz during a live telecast on PTV Sports two days ago.
Speaking to media, “Whatever happened is out there for everyone to see. [The committee] can make the decision after watching the videos [of the show].”
The episode had caused an uproar on social media with politicians, journalists and mediapersons coming to the former cricketer’s defence and criticising Niaz for his behaviour.
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry had said a committee will be formed to probe the incident and subsequently the PTV administration had formed an inquiry committee.
The altercation between Akhtar and Niaz had taken place during a post-match analysis after Pakistan’s win against New Zealand in a T20 World Cup fixture on Tuesday.
The two were part of a panel for PTV Sports’ programme ‘Game On Hai’, along with guests such as West Indies batting legend Sir Vivian Richards, former England captain David Gower, former Pakistan women’s captain Sana Mir and former fast bowler Umar Gul.
During a discussion on the Pakistan squad, Akhtar had credited the Pakistan Super League’s Lahore Qalandars franchise for discovering Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf.
Niaz, however, had taken issue with Akhtar’s comments and said: “You are being a little rude so I don’t want to say this but if you’re being over-smart then you can go. I am saying this on air.”
Once the show had resumed after a break, Akhtar had apologised to the guests on the panel and announced his resignation from PTV, saying he could not continue with the programme because of “how I was treated on national television”.
