Former Pakistan captains Imran Khan and Javed Miandad slammed the country's cricket board on Tuesday for handing fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar a five-year ban on disciplinary grounds.
"It is totally unacceptable. This ban it literally ends his career. The board is destroying Pakistan cricket by banning players," Imran told the Express television channel.
Akhtar was banned for repeated disciplinary violations but said he was ready to take court action to fight it.
Imran also criticised the board for banning the players who had signed up to the rebel Indian Cricket League.
"These bans are weakening Pakistan cricket. A fine would have been fine for Shoaib. He has not committed a crime," he said.
"The board must keep in mind that we also need to win matches and keep our pride in international cricket."
Miandad said he was stunned by severity of the punishment.
"It came as a shock to me because the board has always had a reputation of being soft on disciplinary issues. And now this matter was not that serious that they try to end his career," he told Reuters.
Miandad added that if Shoaib challenged the ban in court, it would harm Pakistan cricket.
"We will become a joke. If they wanted to discipline him they should have done it much before now like this," he said.
Former batsman Zaheer Abbas said Aktar's ban would weaken the team.
"He had some two years of cricket left in him and we should have taken advantage of him while maintaining discipline," he said.
"I don't know what these people are trying to do. The cricketers are not schoolboys to be treated like this. Shoaib committed no big crime."
