Punishment to Azhar, Jadeja unfair says former Pakistan offspinner Tauseef

Former Pakistan offspinner Tauseef Ahmed has said the punishment meted out to Indian players Mohammed Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja for their alleged involvement in match-fixing practices, was unfair.

"I think the punishment handed down to India's Mohammed Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja is really unfair as the two could not have gone on and on to fix matches on their own," Tauseef told the Khaleej Times in Dubai.

Tauseef, a mainstay of the Pakistan bowling under Imran Khan in the 1980s, said he found it difficult to believe that one or two players could fix matches but if that was true, match-fixing was going to stay forever.

"I still do not think that anything like match-fixing happens because for me it is hard to believe that one or two players can change the outcome of the game," Tauseef said. "But if these things are really happening then I would say that match-fixing is here to stay forever, no matter what you do," the daily quoted him as saying.