Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) president Najam Sethi has revealed that the board had prior indication over corruption happening ahead of the second edition of Pakistan Super League.
The cricketing world trembled once again at the start of PSL 2 when spot fixing happened between Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi back in February. The event was a grand success despite the scar of fixing at the beginning.
However, Sethi had admitted that they were well prepared to deal with the situation before the tournament began. But he expressed his surprise over the fixing scandal that took place in the very first game of the T20 league.
Speaking to pakpassion, Sethi said, “When the second edition of the PSL came along, we did have some prior indication that such corruption could happen and so we were technically and mentally prepared for such an eventuality.”
“However, to be honest, I did not expect that such an issue would come to light in only the first match of the tournament. Literally within 48 hours of the start of 2017 PSL, we were faced with this situation which was shocking. But when it did happen, the evidence that I saw was sufficient to convince me that what we suspected was true,” he added.
Pakistan batsman Sharjeel Khan was banned from playing cricket at any level after proven guilty of spot fixing. He had scored only one run in the four deliveries be played during that match.
“As we can see, the charges against Sharjeel Khan have all been proven and the punishments meted out. We will review the judgment in detail and if we think that they are lenient, we will seek stiffer sentences,” Sethi said.
Sharjeel, Khalid Latif, and Shahzaib Hasan are facing charges for some breaches of the anti-corruption code of PCB for the allegations over fixing during the second season. On the other hand, Mohammad Irfan and Mohammad Nawaz were punished for not informing the anti-corruption unit of the offers they received to fix the games.