More names likely to spring up in PSL spot-fixing case

The most recent updates in the PSL spot-fixing scandal suggest that more players could be involved in the entire scenario. The second edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) was plagued on the very third day of the tournament with players Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif being summoned by the PCB for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing. Soon, the names of Mohammad Irfan and Shahzaib Khan also came to the fore and thereby bringing some infamy to the players, PSL, and Pakistan.

Now, as the reports and quotes in Sportstarlive, suspended cricketers Sharjeel and Khalid Latif have informed the Anti-Corruption Units of ICC and PCB that the bookie named Yousuf Anwar, who they were in touch with, had claimed to be in contact with four other Pakistani players as well. What is surprising that the four other players that the bookie was referring to was neither Irfan nor Shahzaib.

“The players were asked by the ACU officials which other players were involved in the racket. Khalid and Sharjeel told them they didn’t know anything about other players. But when pressed Khalid told them that the bookmaker and foreigner had claimed to be in touch with four other players which didn’t include Muhammad Irfan or Shahzaib Hasan,” one of the sources quoted.

The source also reflected back at how the ACU officials had tracked both Sharjeel and Khalid down during the tournament in Dubai. They checked the cell phones and then their kit bags to find anything suspicious. A specific type of batting grips is what helped the ACU take the decision of sending back the players to Pakistan for enquiry.

“The ACU officials knew something was going on as they knew what to search for. And when they searched the kit bags they found particularly coloured batting grips given to them by Yousuf and the foreigner,” the source revealed.

Another player who was banned for the same during the PSL this year was Nasir Jamshed. The source said that the messages and contacts found with the tainted players had no information regarding the conversation with Yousuf Anwar of Nasir Jamshed. Hence, the case is more peculiar than it might seem to be.

“The messages uncovered from the mobile phones particularly that of Khalid doesn’t have any solid evidence that they were in touch with Yousuf or Nasir Jamshed for spot-fixing matches. In fact the messages exchanged between Nasir and Khalid pertain to a consignment of new bats to be sold in the UK,” the source conceded.

Talking about Mohammad Irfan, Tafazzul Rizvi, the legal advisor of the PCB has said that Irfan’s fault was not letting the board know about the approaches that were made to him. However, since not much evidence could be gathered against him, Irfan continued to participate in the tournament.

“Irfan admitted he didn’t report the approaches when he was interviewed by the ACU officials on Monday. Irfan continued to play on because enough material was not gathered which could confirm he had undermined the integrity of the sport. But now that he has appeared before the ACU the board decided he had a case to answer and has been sent a notice of charge to which he has to reply in 14-days time,” Rizvi quoted.