Shoaib Malik faces ban for throwing match

Shoaib Malik, the Pakistani allrounder who admitted to throwing a domestic Twenty20 game, is likely to be banned for either a Test or two one-day internationals after the Pakistan Cricket Board took a decidedly dim view of his antics. After a hearing on Saturday that lasted about 150 minutes, a three-member commission appointed by the board recommended that Malik, touted by some as a future captain, be punished according to clauses 2.9 and 2.11 of the International Cricket Council's Code of Conduct.

In addition to the ban, Malik is also likely to be docked a full-match fee. Malik, who was due to play his 100th ODI in St Vincent on May 18, admitted to engineering a four-run defeat for his Sialkot Stallions side against the Karachi Zebras, a result that he thought would knock the Lahore Eagles out of the competition.

On being shown video footage, Malik owned up to his error of judgement. The inquiry commission was headed by Haroon Rashid, a former Test player and manager of the team, and a board source told Reuters, "He said he was sorry for what had happened and he had reacted in the heat of the moment and would not repeat such a thing again."

Shaharyar Khan, the PCB chairman, was said to be so incensed by the incident that Malik's participation in the West Indies tour was in doubt, but with the one-match ban likely to come into force during the Barbados Test in late May, he could yet play that 100th ODI in St Vincent. While the squad for the West Indies has already been decided on, it will be rubber-stamped by the board's ad hoc committee only on Monday.