Afridi withdraws petition against PCB

Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi has withdrawn the petition he filed against the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) before the Sindh High Court (SHC).
Afridi had approached the court after the PCB had punished him for breaching its code of conduct by announcing his retirement after being sacked from the one-day captaincy, and for levelling allegations against the board.
Afridi’s counsel Mehmood Mandviwala submitted an application to withdraw Afridi’s petition before a division bench comprising Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi. The court granted the request.
The counsel submitted that both parties have agreed to settle the matter out of the court.
Mandviwala said his client would likely appear before the PCB’s disciplinary committee on Thursday to defend himself.
"We didn''t want to go to court but were forced. Now, I hope, Afridi will get the NOC (no-objection certificate) and will be able to play in England and Sri Lanka," The Nation
quoted Mandviwala, as saying.
Afridi did not appear in court himself and was represented in court by his lawyer.
Earlier, in his constitutional petition, Afridi had pleaded that the PCB’s decision to ban him and revoke his no-objection certificate (NOC) was a restraint of trade, and therefore, needed to be contested in court.