The jinxed Pakistan cricket team once again finds itself embroiled in a serious match-fixing scandal, and this time around the proof is in the form of incontrovertible video footage and the confessional statement of a person of Pakistani origin, Mazhar Majeed, who was caught red-handed in the course of a sting operation, mounted by the London tabloid News of the World.
Reporters from the paper went to Majeed posing as agents of an international betting syndicate and asked him to fix the match for a whopping sum of 150,000 pounds. Majeed, who is well known among the cricketing circles and boasts of close contacts with Pakistani cricketers, agreed in return for the fee paid to him to fix the delivery of two no balls in the course of the match at Lord's. The deal went through and Pakistan seamers, Amir and Asif, delivered the two no balls exactly at the given points in the match as per the agreement. The video footage of the two no balls as well of the match-fixer counting wads of currency notes is now in possession of the metropolitan police London, while Scotland Yard detectives have interrogated Pakistan captain, Salman Butt, and the two Pakistani bowlers at the centre of the betting scam and taken away their cell phones.
It is said that misfortune never comes alone. The betting scandal could not have come at a worse time for Pakistan facing the worst flood disaster in its history. As the scam made headlines in the British and the world media, the Pakistan team collapsed to an ignominious innings defeat, sending shock waves of anger, disappointment and humiliation through Pakistan. For Pakistanis, for whom a cricketing victory is always an occasion for national rejoicing, this was a great let-down, an unexpected betrayal and a moment of national shame at the hands of those very players who are pampered, lionised and treated as national heroes.
Come to think of it, what a colossal waste of talent and resources it is, both at the national and individual levels. And all this only because of the cupidity, greed and selfishness on the part of a few individuals. One feels particularly sorry for Salman Butt and Mohammad Sami, both outstanding players in their own right, with a bright future ahead of them, falling prey to their own venality as much as the machinations of notorious match-fixers and cutting short a long promising career ahead of them.
The history of match fixing and drug scandals involving both senior and junior Pakistani players is long but it seems no lessons have been learnt. It was for the first time in 1994, that Australian cricketers Shane Warne, Mark Waugh and Tim May had alleged that the Pakistan captain, Salim Malik, had approached them and asked them to bowl badly and lose the Karachi test. In 1998, Wasim Akram resigned as captain of the Pakistan team when bowler Ataur Rahman accused him of offering him Rs. 300,000 for bowling waywardly against New Zealand. Not long after, Rashid Latif accused Wasim Akram, Salim Malik, Inzamamul Haq and Ijaz Ahmed of fixing matches for making money.
How deep the cancer of corruption had seeped into the world of cricket came to light when in 2000 the Delhi police charged South African captain, Hansie Cronje, of fixing his team's ODI series against India. Around the same time, a judicial commission set up in Pakistan to probe match-fixing allegations found Salim Malik and Ataur Rahman guilty and recommended a life ban on them. The commission also recommended that Wasim Akram and Mushtaq Ahmed should not be allowed to lead Pakistan in future. Around the same time, the South African cricket head, Ali Bacher, disclosed that he was told by former Pakistan Cricket Board CEO, Majid Khan, that Pakistan's two matches against India and Bangladesh in the 1999 World Cup were fixed. In the year 2000, following Justice Abdul Qayyum's inquiry report, a life ban was slapped on Salim Malik and Ataur Rahman and fines were imposed on many senior players, including Wasim Akram and Waqar Yunus.
The strict action seemed to have a salutary effect on Pakistani cricket, which remained free of any match-fixing scandals for almost a decade. But in 2010, the Pakistan team again came under suspicion when during its tour of Australia it lost all its matches leading to the launching of investigations by the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). As a result of the findings of the two inquiries, the PCB banned former captains, Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan, indefinitely, for behaviour which it said contributed to the national team's poor performance on its tour of Australia. The PCB also imposed a one-year ban on Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved.
Both Yousuf and Younis were found to have been involved in infighting during the tour which had a demoralising effect on the whole team. A PCB statement revealed: "Their attitude had a trickle-down effect and had a bad influence on the whole team." Younis and Yousuf were banned from taking part in international games, but were allowed to play in domestic cricket. Malik and Naved were fined two million rupees each, while wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal was handed a fine of three million rupees and Umar Akmal, younger brother of Kamran, was fined two million rupees. Shahid Afridi was also fined three million rupees for ball tampering during the one-day series against Australia. The committee also looked into reports of Pakistan's tour last year to the United Arab Emirates for a one-day series against New Zealand, its test series in New Zealand as well as the disastrous tour of Australia, where the team lost 3-0 in the test series and lost 5-0 in the one-day series.
The PCB affairs have never been in good shape but, as all observers of the sports scene in the country have noted, the situation has deteriorated steeply under the present administration, headed by Ijaz Butt. Serious allegations of mismanagement, favouritism, nepotism, indiscipline and misuse of funds have been levelled against the PCB management, but the higher authorities have never cared to take action to set things right in the Board. Many senior players have expressed dissatisfaction over the way the Board is being run while many young talented players keep complaining of discriminatory treatment at the hands of Board officials.
Once proud world champions, Pakistan cricketers today look like struggling neophytes staggering from one humiliating defeat to another disgraceful match-fixing scandal. The Lord's debacle is like the proverbial last straw on the camel's back. If things are to be set right, nothing less than a complete overhaul of the Board and reorganisation of the entire team will do. All known bad eggs should be thrown out and new blood inducted. Those who have brought shame to the whole nation deserve no mercy; they should be banned from the game for ever. There is no dearth of cricketing talent in the country. We can easily raise a new team. The present Board should be disbanded and replaced by a new one comprising professionals of proven integrity and competence. There is no other way to revive Pakistan cricket which is now in the throes of the worst crisis in its history.