Pakistan: Match-fixing charges: plea for probe (12 Jan 1998)

12 January 1998

Match-fixing charges: plea for probe

By Qamar Ahmed

With only three weeks to go for Pakistan's very important Test tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe, the decision of Wasim Akram to announce that he will not lead Pakistan again is not really a protest against the threatening phone calls and obnoxious letters received by his family but in fact it is a cry of help and support from his own cricket establishment which has woefully failed to back him and some of his star players in Pakistan team.

Insinuations have been made in recent statements against some of the players alleging their involvement with outside elements during recent one-day matches, particularly in Sharjah. Instead of entertaining such accusations the PCB should have appointed a high-powered committee to investigate the charges.

It is an accepted axiom that one is deemed innocent till proven guilty. Mr Justice Chandrachaud, a former chief justice of India, had rejected as unsubstantiated Manoj Prabhakar's charges of bribery and match fixing against some players. The PCB should have exactly done that instead of keeping mute and making people guess in the wake of recent allegations. Wasim Akram, Salim Malik and others are much too valuable an asset for Pakistan's cricket to be so summarily discarded without a serious and impartial inquiry.

One of the reasons why we have seen the present Pakistan team, which is rated as one of the three best alongside Australia and South Africa, not faring well is that it was subjected to harassment in the last couple of years. They have not really been allowed to settle down as a team. Frequent changes of captains and team had shaken their confidence.

Source:: Dawn (https://dawn.com/)