Samiul Hasan: Intikhab believes some matches were fixed (29 Jun 1998)

29 June 1998

Intikhab believes some matches were fixed

By Samiul Hasan

KARACHI, June 28: Former cricket manager of the national team, Intikhab Alam, has said he believed a few international matches were fixed by some players.

Talking to Dawn after recording his statement to PCB's probe committee which is investigating match-fixing and betting, Intikhab said: "I stood by (before the probe committee) whatever I have said in my reports. Yes, some matches were fixed."

However, the former Pakistan captain said he cannot name the players who were involved in match-fixing. "I don't have any concrete evidence but one player confessed to me verbally that he was involved in one of the games that was fixed," he said.

Intikhab recalled that in 1994-95 during the Singer Cup in Sri Lanka, Pakistan suffered defeat in controversial circumstances. He said Pakistan were 100 for one while chasing 170 before being dismissed for under 150.

"After that game, a player came to me and confessed that he was one of the players who was involved in match-fixing. I have narrated this in my manager's report and on Sunday also, I told the same to the probe committee," Intikhab said.

"This was very manly of the player who was having guilty conscience," he maintained.

Intikhab said after that incident, he made the players take oath on the Holy Quran that no one would ever indulge in match-fixing or betting. "But after that also, I felt that a few games were deliberately thrown."

Intikhab, however, denied that the World Cup quarter-final against India was a fixed one. "We lost that match because of poor batting."

The former Surrey captain said it would amount to maligning the players without any evidence. "I know that something was fishy but I just don't have any proof to establish my belief.

"I can say that not one or two players are involved. There are five to six players because the match cannot be fixed by just two players. You need more than that," Intikhab said.

Intikhab said he also told the PCB probe committee that they cannot penalise on circumstantial evidence. "They need rock-hard evidence which they will never get."

The PCB probe committee also recorded the statements of former captains Ramiz Raja and Saeed Anwar.

According to sources, the probe committee questioned the players on a few matches. Besides the Singer Cup game, the players were also asked about their views on the 1993-94 tour of New Zealand when Pakistan lost the third Test by allowing the host nation to achieve 330 for victory in the fourth innings. A one-dayer is also believed to be thrown by some individuals.

Interestingly, Majid Khan was the manager on the tour and he had stopped all the incoming calls at Wellington. According to players, all the calls were put to them after the hotel operator sought Majid's approval.

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