Pakistan call on ICC to gag Rashid Latif

The Pakistan Cricket Board has called on the ICC to act against unsubstantiated match-fixing allegations, following the latest outburst from their former captain Rashid Latif.

Latif, who resigned from the Pakistan captaincy towards the end of last year, has called into question the validity of the fourth ODI in Lahore, where India levelled the series at 2-2, before going on to win the decider. "Even a common man could observe that the players were acting on a script," Latif was quoted as saying. "The body language of the players was not as it should have been."

The PCB has asked its disciplinary committee to look at possible action against Latif, but their chairman Rameez Raja, believes it is up to the ICC to instigate a code of conduct to deal with such cases. "This is a serious issue and needs to be tackled," said Rameez. "It is damaging the sport."

"We want the ICC to put in place a code for former players and officials," he added. "They tend to cause a lot of damage by making match-fixing allegations against a team without evidence." But Latif, who lifted the lid on the cricket's corrupt practices even before the match-fixing scandal erupted in 2000, is unrepentant about his remarks.

"[The Lahore match] was one of the biggest upsets in one-day cricket," he added. "After grabbing four early wickets, Pakistan packed the on-side field and allowed India free runs on the off. I am ready to face any legal battle on this because my assertions that there were wrongdoings in the match are correct."