PCB to hold probe over cricketers playing with Kaneria

The Pakistan Cricket Board will conduct an internal investigation after a few national players participated in exhibition T20 matches in the United States of America alongside banned legspinner Danish Kaneria. The investigation is aimed at finding how the players participated in the matches, which are not organised by the USACA, without a No Objection Certificate from the board and played the game with a banned player.

Kaneria was handed a life ban by the ECB in 2012 for spot-fixing and the ban prevents him from playing in matches under the ECB's jurisdiction. Kaneria, however, has been participating in exhibition T20 leagues in the United States and played a match with Wahab Riaz and Nasir Jamshed last week in Houston, Texas. Fawad Alam, Abdul Razzaq and Shahzaib Hasan are also under investigation.

""We are looking into how these players featured in these matches - authorised or unauthorised - without our permission," Subhan Ahmed, PCB's COO told AFP.

It is a common occurrence for a few Pakistan players to feature in pop-up T20 tournaments across the United States, which are organised locally and are unofficial in nature. Kaneria has participated in such tournaments before.

The legspinner was banned for his role in a spot-fixing case during a 2009 county match between Essex and Durham.