Pakistan Cricket Board allows tainted cricketer Sharjeel Khan to play club cricket

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has given the nod to tainted cricketer Sharjeel Khan to take part in club cricket and this could be a turning moment in his career. The 30-year-old succeeded in his second attempt in the PCB’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit’s written test.

Sharjeel, who has played one Test, 25 ODIs and 15 T20Is, will now appear for lectures in Bahawalpur, Sheikhupura and Karachi where he will have to express his regret and explain to junior players how corruption can hurt them. The cricketer also, as part of his rehabilitation, has to visit an orphanage, the News International report added.

Once he gets over those phases, the batsman’s name could be cleared for the pool of Pakistan Super League (PSL) players. Though Sharjeel has scored just one international hundred which came in an ODI, he has a staggering strike-rate of 137-plus in T20Is and 140-plus in the T20s.

Sharjeel Khan’s five-year ban was later reduced by half

Sharjeel was handed a five-year ban in 2017 for his role in a match-fixing scandal in the PSL the same year. He admitted his guilt earlier this year and underwent rehabilitation. Half of his punishment was suspended later. The PCB’s anti-corruption tribunal had suspended half of the ban after finding him guilty of violating five clauses of the board’s anti-corruption code.

Sharjeel was found guilty by the board along with other Pakistan players Khalid Latif, Nasir Jamshed and Shahzaib Hasan (still under a ban); Mohammad Irfan and Mohammad Nawaz. Sharjeel, who was playing for Islamabad United, was suspended along with Latif and sent home from Dubai at the start of the PSL in February 2017.

Based on his performance in the PSL, Sharjeel could even be considered for Pakistan’s tour of the Netherlands, Ireland and England in 2020. There is, however, little chance that Sharjeel would be allowed to play domestic cricket in the current season.

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