LAHORE: Former Test fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz has criticised the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for the fresh match-fixing scam involving Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif.“Such kinds of incidents cannot be avoided in Pakistan cricket because the PCB loves to keep tainted players around,” Sarfraz told Dawn.
“Tainted persons like Wasim Akram, Dean Jones, Moin Khan, Shoaib Malik, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Basit Ali and many others are still working with the PCB in different capacities despite having tainted past and many of them had even been penalised by the judicial commission of Justice Malik Qayyum,” he said.
Even former Test captain Intikhab Alam had recorded a statement that Basit Ali had confessed before a judicial commission that he had been involved in match-fixing.
“In the first edition of PSL last year, Ravi Bopara criticised Karachi Kings’ skipper Shoaib Malik for not using appropriate bowlers at the right time. Bopara had even asked Malik to test his abilities as bowler but the latter continued using wrong bowlers,” he added.Sarfraz alleged that not only the first match of this year’s PSL between Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi was fixed but also the second match between Lahore Qalandars and Quetta Gladiators.
“A timely action on Bopara’s statement by the PCB would have sent a strong message to all players,” the express bowler expressed his opinion.