Former Pakistan bowler Sarfraz Nawaz has come down hard at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) after the latest fixing scandals that has rocked the Pakistani cricket.
Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif have been provisionally suspended from the Pakistan Super League (PSL) under anti-corruption rules as part of an ongoing investigation into an organisation’s alleged attempts to corrupt the ongoing edition of the T20 tournament. Both batsmen have been sent home for their alleged involvement in match-fixing.
Meanwhile, Sarfraz Nawaz feels the problem can’t be fully eradicated from Pakistan cricket as log as the PCB allows tainted personalities to work with them.
Speaking to The Dawn, Sarfraz said:
“Such kinds of incidents cannot be avoided in Pakistan cricket because the PCB loves to keep tainted players around.”
“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 added.
“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,” the former cricketer further said.
“A timely action on Bopara’s statement by the PCB would have sent a strong message to all players,” he opined.
Nawaz also said the first two matches of the ongoing tournament were fixed before claiming the players are getting full support of the team management in their malicious intentions. He also accused PSL chairman Najam Sethi of being involved in many corrupt practices.
He further said the cricket boards around the world are not taking match-fixing practices seriously and credited India’s Supreme Court for banning Indian Premier League (IPL) teams Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings after they were found guilty of being involved in fixing.