According to information gathered, the PIA ground staff raised objections on the seat confirmations of Shahid Nazir, Arshad Khan and Associate Manager Aamir Hayat Rokhri. The matter was temporarily solved by Zaheer Abbas, manager of the team, who conceded his seat to Arshad Khan and requested Dr Dan Keisal to award his seat to Shahid Nazir so that at least 12 cricketers reach Sri Lanka on time and can take part in the pre-tournament warmup sessions.
Saqlain Mushtaq is expected to reach Colombo from London on Sunday along with Hasan Raza. However, Mushtaq's arrival might be delayed if the Benson and Hedges final could not be played on Sunday. The final will then be held on a reserve day - Monday. The PIA flight, PK 876, thus, took off for Colombo 30 minutes late carrying 12 players and cricket manager Haroon Rasheed.
The three left-over officials viz Zaheer Abbas, Aamir Hayat Rokhri and Dr Dan Keisal, will now fly out early Monday morning by Air Lanka flight UL 184 that leaves Colombo at 0230 hours (P.S.T) and arrives there 0530 hours (P.S.T). Pakistan opens its bid to win the eluded Asia Cup on Monday against Bangladesh. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has started an inquiry and in this connection have sought a detailed report from its travel agents, Walgis Travel Bureau (Pvt), Islamabad.
The Chief Executive, Majid Khan, not very pleased with this worrying incident, said from Lahore that as soon as investigations were completed, they will be made public. ``We have also asked for a detailed report from Zaheer Abbas,'' Majid added from his Lahore residence. Initial investigations by this correspondent reveal that PCB's long-associated travel agents have supplied the cricket board all the necessary documents that tell that tickets of 12 players and four officials were reconfirmed before being handed over to the board earlier this week. ``The reconfirmation stickers were duly placed on the tickets of the delegation,'' sources said, adding: ``Something went terribly wrong at the Quaid-i-Azam international airport.''
Zaheer Abbas stated late Thursday evening that the PIA ground staff said the tickets of three players were not confirmed. ``Therefore, the seats were given to passengers who came first. ``I made all possible efforts to overcome the crisis but it was beyond my and PIA's control. I informed the situation to Majid Khan at 7:00 a.m.,'' said Zaheer. ``The luggage of all the entire squad had gone to the cargo before three were off-loaded later,'' said Zaheer.
Zaheer said he arrived at the airport at 6:00 a.m. for the flight PK 876 that was to leave 7:00 a.m. ``My boarding card was ready but was surprised to learn that there were no seats for two players and an official. ``The entire team had arrived well before the briefing time,'' claimed Zaheer.
Sources in the PCB said the aircraft was over-booked. ``It was over-booked by 40 passengers.'' A PIA spokesman said late Thursday evening that 18 passengers, mostly Sri Lankan nationals on a transit from Saudi Arabia, were off-loaded.
PIA sources, nevertheless, blamed the cricket team for not arriving at the PIA counter on time. ``They (team officials) say that they arrived at 5:30 a.m. But the fact is that they reached there shortly before 6:00 a.m. ``If we accept their contention that they arrived there at 5:30 a.m., they were, in any case, late because PIA's instructions are that all the passengers have to report two hours before departure,'' PIA spokesman said.
The spokesman further stated that some of the unidentified players were also travelling with their families which also caused a problem. ``The PIA official along with Zaheer Abbas approached Majid Khan who requested that managers with confirmed seats should be off-loaded and players with unconfirmed seats be accommodated. The PIA ground staff, with almost all odds against them, did a wonderful job by succeeding in putting all the players on the aircraft,'' the spokesman said.
There is no denying the fact that national outfits specially cricket teams, take extra advantage and liberty and don't follow the airline guidelines. On a number of times, it has been observed that the entire squad arrives less than an hour before departure and after bypassing the customs procedures collect the boarding cards and proceed directly to the aircraft.
It has also been seen that the manager alone arrives at the airport and after booking the luggage of the side, collects the boarding cards of the contingent and waits for the arrival of the team in the arrival lounge. As soon as the players arrive, boarding cards are distributed. In this particular case, Haroon Rasheed appears to have failed to follow the pattern as he is on his first assignment with the senior string. However, the other school of thought is that Haroon is appointed only to look after the technical aspects of the cricket team while Zaheer Abbas has assignment to look after the off-the-field issues. Interestingly, Zaheer Abbas admits arriving at 6:00 a.m. - an hour before departure.