The return of the trio

In strictly legal sense, there is nothing stopping the three from wearing Pakistan’s jerseys again come September 2

Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir will soon find themselves free of all sanctions imposed by the ICC for their role in the 2010 spot-fixing scandal. The trio was banned from all competitive cricket after an ICC tribunal found them guilty of spot-fixing during Pakistan’s tour of England. While Butt was punished with a 10-year ban (five of them suspended), Asif was handed a seven-year one (two suspended), while Amir was given a five-year sanction. Amir was allowed back into domestic cricket earlier this year although the ban on his international appearances remained.

In the strictly legal sense, there is nothing stopping the three from wearing Pakistan’s jerseys again come September 2. The three can feature in domestic tournaments, fine-tune their skills and make themselves contenders for the national team if they show reasonable team spirit, fitness, form and remorse. There has, however, been much debate among fans and players over whether the trio should be welcomed back or not. There are those who feel that while it was the UK court that punished them, it was Pakistan’s name which was tarnished, and there should be no place for the trio in Pakistan cricket. There are also those who argue that people deserve a second chance, especially if the guilty have shown remorse and have been punished. This is perhaps what we should remember — the trio has paid for their crimes and an important aspect of meting out justice is that of rehabilitation, and that aspect must not be ignored here. This does not in any way mean that we forget the circumstances under which the trio committed the misdemeanours. There was absolutely no reason for them to have done what they did, except for their greed and foolishness to think they will get away with it. Also, Butt and Asif persisted in their denials for a long time even after Amir had confessed to his role in the saga at the first given opportunity in the UK court. Perhaps, only time will tell if fans and the cricketing fraternity are ready to forgive the trio.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 22^nd, 2015.

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