Shoaib Akhtar gutted yet not surprised by PSL match-fixing allegations

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has gone ahead and opened up about the match-fixing allegations that are currently doing the rounds in the 2017 edition of the Pakistan Super League. While there has been a massive crackdown on match-fixing in recent times with players witnessing upwards of 20 years and life bans as well, the fact is that this sort of an incident is fairly common when it comes to domestic T20 leagues.

Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif are those who are currently the ones alleged and embroiled in the scandal that is barely 24 hours old. However, this could have a profound impact on the duo given the fact that their careers have just taken off when it comes to One Day cricket at the very least. Both players are openers for the Pakistan cricket team in both the T20I cricket as well as the One-Day format as well.

In recent times, while there has been a crackdown, the likes of Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif have made their way back into the domestic circuit at least with the former being one of the more prolific scorers in the league as well. Mohammad Amir has already made a comeback and is well on his way to ensure that there is much more to his game than just the trivial bowling that he has performed in recent times.

However, the reparations from the International Cricket Council could very well witness the closing down of the PSL given what has happened with the Ram Slam T20 tournament as well in South Africa when the likes of Ghulam Bodi and Thami Tsolekile were embroiled in a match-fixing scandal.

A tweet from Akhtar went on to read: “Match-fixing allegations in PSL extremely gutting but honestly I saw it coming. If proven, it shud b non-negotiable. Guilty shud b punished.”

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