An appeal made by the hard-hitting opening batsman Sharjeel Khan against the five-year-ban following his involvement in a spot-fixing case was rejected this. However, his lawyer suggested that they will challenge the decision in higher courts. A three-member tribunal from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) investigated this case and banned Sharjeel for five years with two and a half years suspended in August. The scandal took place during the second edition of the Pakistan Super League which was played at UAE with the final being played at Lahore.
“The decision is disappointing, and we will go to the high court after knowing on what grounds our appeal was rejected. The PCB has not been able to prove the spot-fixing, and that has halted a promising career.” Sharjeel’s lawyer Shaigan Ijaz said while talking to AFP.
One man arbitrator Justice Faqir Khokhar upheld the decision earlier today and also dismissed PCB’s appeal to increase the punishment which can range from five years to life ban as per anti-corruption code. The young opener Sharjeel was accused of playing two dot balls of which no runs were scored in his team Islamabad United’s first match against Peshawar Zalmi in UAE. Sport-fixing is tough to detect unlike match-fixing because it involves the outcome of a specific part of the match.
Sharjeel represented Pakistan in 25 ODI’s, 15T20I’s and one Test match before getting banned. He was at the prime time of his career as he was contracted by Leicestershire to play in County league and was in line for getting more contracts from teams around the world.
His opening partner Khalid Latif was banned for five years and was fined one million rupees (10,000 dollars) for arranging the deal with a bookie. Left-arm pacer Mohammad Irfan and spinner Mohammad Nawaz were banned for one year and two months respectively over not reporting fixing offers. Two other players namely Shahzaib Hasan and Nasir Jamshed are also under investigation by the tribunal. The latest hearing, in that case, was due for hearing later Thursday.