Wasim Akram will be flying home to Pakistan from England today to meet with
PCB Adhoc Committee chairman Mujeeb-ur-Rehman in a bid, yet again, to clear
his name. The Pakistani captain, one of the outstanding figures of world
cricket in the past decade, has been told that he will not be considered for
national selections until charges of match-fixing against him have been
proved or otherwise.
Akram heads a list of prominent players who are reported to have been
alleged to have been involved in match fixing and betting, by an internal
inquiry of Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB) following which framing of charges
against them has been ordered.
Director general of Ehtesab (Accountability) Bureau of Pakistan Khalid Aziz
announced on Saturday that they would start the official procedure of
framing the charges against these key Pakistani players.
The cricketers named by the PCB are Wasim Akram, Moin Khan, Saqlain Mushtaq,
Inzamam-ul Haq, Mushtaq Ahmed, Waqar Younis, Salim Malik and Ijaz Ahmed.
“Ehtesab will do separate investigation into the World Cup debacle after
gatyhering material.We’ll then decide either to proceed under the conduct
rules of the PCB or obtain legal advice for criminal action by registering
an FIR,” Aziz said.
The concerned players have been indicted for their involvement in match-
fixing during the 1994 Sharjah and NZ series. There were two specific
charges each against Akram and Malik and one combined charge against Akram,
Malik and Ijaz Ahmed, according to PCB probe committee report. Akram has
been accused of losing a Sharjah Cup match to India in 1994 by “providing
Indians the opportunity to score runs speedily through intentional bad field
placement”. The charge also mentions that Akram got angry with Aamir Sohail
becuase he had restrained the Indians and had taken two wickets with field
readjustments when he had gone out of the field for sometime.
The other charge is related to a match against New Zealand in 1994 itself.
Akram is charged of asking bowler Ata-ur Rehman to bowl badly. For the same
match, Malik has been accused of “conspiring with Akram and Ijaz Ahmed to
make Pakistan lose”.
In the combined charge against the three players it was alleged that they
accompanied known bookies of Sharjah - known as Chautani and Jojo - and
conspired to ensure that Pakistan lost the match to India in 1994.
Meanwhile Pakistani captain Wasim Akram has denied these allegations and has
maintained his innocence. “I absolutely refute any charges,” Akram said on
Channel 4 on Sunday where he was commentating on the England vs New Zealand
test match. “This is more to do with politics than anything else,” Akram
said. “I am going(to Pakistan) next week and sort this out.”
Aamir Sohail while deposing before the Ehtesab Bureau has alleged that
captain Wasim Akram is a close friend of an Indian bookie. Sohail “disclosed
the names of the key players who are not only chummies of the bookie, but
are also regular casino visitors when on official tour abroad”, a report in
“The Nation” newspaper quoted the the bureau sources as saying.
The sources according to the report have, said “an indian bookie is a friend
of Wasim Akram and he (the bookie) always stays in the same hotel where the
Pakistani team stays on a foreign tour.”
Saifur Rehman, head of the Ehtesab Cell said that Wasim Akram, Salim Malik
and Ijaz Ahmed would not be selected for the national side pending the
completion of the judicial probe into allegations of match fixing.
Akram, who has been playing club cricket for Smethwick in the Birmingham
League since the World Cup as well as performing commentary duties for
Channel 4, is expected to arrive in Islamabad today for a meeting with
Mujeeb this afternoon.
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