The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has adopted an indifferent posture after match-fixing allegations were again levelled against the national cricket team, this time over its semi-final match with rivals India at the 2011 One-Day International World Cup.
Earlier, British journalist Ed Hawkins tried to whip up controversy ahead of the release of his book, casting doubts over the match played in Mohali.
He claimed he received a Twitter message from an Indian bookmaker who accurately predicted the Pakistani side’s demise in the match. While he did not make any concrete allegation, he cited a statistician as saying the odds of a bookmaker predicting the outcome of a match in detail would be 405 to one.
However, with a keenly-anticipated bilateral series against India planned for December, the PCB is keeping mum over the issue. When PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf was contacted, he refrained from giving any remarks, saying that his predecessor Ijaz Butt would be in a better position to discuss the issue.
“It’s better to talk to Ijaz Butt [the then chairman of PCB], as I don’t have the insight to give any comments,” Ashraf told The Express Tribune.
Meanwhile, another senior official dismissed the report, saying that importance should not be given to such people as the International Cricket Council (ICC), the sport’s world governing body, had already given a clean bill to the game.
“It isn’t important what people like Hawkins say for publicity as the ICC has cleared the match,” said the official. “We’ll look at the context of the British journalist to decide whether to sue him, while another option is for us to stop the launch of his book.”
The ICC has already dismissed another report in the British newspaper Sunday Times, which suggested the semi-final may have been fixed. “The story carried by the newspaper, which claims that ICC is investigating the 2011 World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan, is baseless and misleading,” ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat had said. “The ICC has no reason or evidence to require an investigation into this match.”
Basit calls Hawkins a publicity seeker
Former Pakistani cricketer Basit Ali slammed the claims, stating that Hawkins was ‘trying to seek publicity’. “He is a publicity seeker who is only aiming to sell his book without thinking about denting the reputation of others,” Ali said.
“No one would give any attention to his book — that’s why he’s doing this drama.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 11th, 2012.
COMMENTS (13)
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pakistani team is the best team in the world so dont blame them
antanu - Its not what we believe but its what most Pakistanis believe. By theory even if Indian bookies and BCCI is involved, it was Pakistani players who played a critical role in implementing those(if at all the match was fixed).
Grow up guys if at all you want to change things around you or else your country will continue their journey southwards. It will create an iota of problem for BCCI or Indian cricket or its common populace if you don't change your mindset.
@From a Pakistani So according to you the "gundas" are the Pakistani players who took the bribe? Lol
@From a Pakistani: If our players with their flowing beards and their habit of beginning everything with Bismillah and going down in sajda every time they achieve something, did indeed fix the match and DID NOT speak out against them, then shame on them, we should be more concerned about what's wrong on our side then the Bollywood villain, get my point?
@True Indian: no thanks...we are happy here...we do not want to come to the hatchery of worlds biggest book makers.....accept it or not...if india is taken away from cricket and betting mafia is clamped down hard...cricket results will become very very different.... India might fall out of top 10 ranking in all formats.....!!!!!!!! even home matches will become difficult for men in blue then
@SJ: but bookmakers are always from India... you are acting like a villain of your own trashbollywood movies...a villain who wears white clothes and appears clean but in a hidden way send bribers and ghundas to do his tricks....got my point.....????????
You guys are at whole another intellectual level here. Everyone is happy (except Faraz) that Indian bookmakers were involved (which is yet to be proved) but no one cares that Pakistani players took the money. In India all we would have cared about is that our players took the money which is nothing less then treason in our books.
Aao beta welcome to India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/series-tournament/pakistan-in-india-2012/top-stories/Pakistani-cricket-fans-must-have-an-Indian-sponsor-to-get-visa/articleshow/17180867.cms
@Pakistani: We have no reason to get started. Our players dropped catches, our players got out cheaply and couldn't chase the target, why blame India/BCCI for this? Is any of this under-performance blame on the Indians? NO, ONLY OUR players. Don't think we have a reason to get started.
@SJ,it did not take long for you to admit that Indians are guilty.
Before the angry men/women start blaming BCCI, do keep in mind that it was your players who took the money and fixed the match. It does not matter whether the bookmakers were Indian or Martians, your players are corrupt and took the money and lost the match.