Akram, Malik appear before PCB probe committee (4 November 1998)

4 November 1998

Akram, Malik appear before PCB probe committee

By Samiul Hasan

KARACHI, Nov 3: Former captains Salim Malik and Wasim Akram appeared before the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) probe committee which is investigating the charges of betting and match-fixing.

The hearing took place at Lahore on Monday.

Justice Ijaz Yousuf, a PCB council member from Balochistan and NWFP who heads the PCB probe committee, told Dawn that the two players recorded their statements which cannot be disclosed.

KCCA President Nusrat Azeem, LDCA President Mian Mohammad Munir, PCB Secretary Waqar Ahmed are members of the probe committee.

"It's highly confidential. I am not going to even tell you if they have denied the charges or not," Justice Yousuf said.

Inzamam-ul-Haq, Ijaz Ahmad and Dr Dan Keisal (team physiotherapist) were also called for their cross-examination "but because of the shortage of time, their statements couldn't be recorded.

"The testimony of Wasim Akram and Salim Malik hasn't finished yet. They will be called again later on," he said.

According to sources close to the players, both the cricketers vehemently denied the pusillanimous allegations and even registered their protest over the leakage of the probe committee two months ago.

"I don't know who leaked the report to the media because one copy was with the Senate's Standing Committee of Sports chairman while the other was with the PCB chairman," Justice Yousuf said.

An interim report prepared by Justice Ijaz Yousuf's committee recommended that Wasim Akram, Salim Malik and Ijaz Ahmad should not be selected in any Pakistan team until the investigations were on.

Besides the three cricketers, the probe committee had also named Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mushtaq Ahmad, Saqlain Mushtaq, Moin Khan and Waqar Younis as being involved.

They further argued that the leakage of the probe committee report has badly tarnished their reputation as Pakistan's international cricketers.

"Whosoever has levelled the accusations, we want to cross-examine them. But it is their word against ours," Malik and Akram are reported to have told Justice Yousuf.

When Justice Yousuf told the two cricketers that they wanted to carry out indepth investigations to get the truth, the two said: "We also want the same but labelling the players as involved in match-fixing before the investigations are completed is unjustified.

"No one is guilty until proven," the duo maintained.

Justice Yousuf said his committee was carrying out the institutional inquiry and should not be mixed up with the judicial inquiry.

"Both the inquiries are different. We are not even exchanging notes," he remarked.

Asked what happens if both the inquiry committees reach different conclusions, he said: "Our job is to complete the investigations and submit the report to the PCB. It's up to the PCB how they handle the situation after that."

Besides the judicial commission and the PCB probe committee, a Senate body is probing the charges of match-fixing.

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