Nasir Jamshed has history of ‘cheating’

LAHORE: Arrested Tuesday in Britain by National Crime Agency over embarrassing match-fixing allegations and later released on bail, the recently suspended Pakistani cricketer, Nasir Jamshed, is seemingly a habitual offender with a tainted past, research shows. 

On April 5, 2010, as reports of renowned website “ESPN CricInfo”, numerous mainstream Pakistani media outlets, private TV channels and The Times of India etc had revealed, Nasir was arrested in Lahore after being allegedly caught cheating while taking a ninth-grade English exam to pass higher secondary school. He was released by the court on a surety of Rs20,000. 

This incident had happened just one month after Nasir was ignored by the PCB when it had given one-year central contracts to 37 players in March 2010.  After he was granted bail, Jamshed’s lawyer Sardar Mohammad Sabir had confirmed that a criminal court judge, Jawad Alam Qureshi, had accepted the bail of his client on a surety bond. 

Newspaper reports of the time had suggested Nasir was caught red-handed while cheating in the English paper of the class tenth examinations with the help of three of his friends, Habibullah, Ghulam Mustafa and Ziaul Haq. 

The invigilator at the examination centre at Lahore’s Lawrence Road had immediately informed the police who registered a case against Nasir for cheating under Sections 3 and 420. 

The examination officer, who alerted police after discovering identical handwriting on four answer scripts, was surprisingly unaware Nasir Jamshed was an international cricketer. He was then taken by the police to the Civil Lines Police Station for interrogation and was detained there. 

The Times of India, in its April 6, 2010 edition, had quoted Nasir as saying: “In the first place, I was not appearing in the English paper. My friends were taking the exam and I was there to help them, which was my mistake. I immediately apologised to the examiner but he didn’t listen to me and called the police. I am terribly embarrassed by the whole affair and should have avoided the whole episode”. 

The BBC had maintained: Pakistan international cricketer Nasir Jamshed has been arrested after being accused of cheating in a school exam. The 20-year-old was one of three students who allegedly allowed a fourth one to write answers for them in an English exam to graduate from secondary school. Haider Ashraf, a senior police official in Lahore, said Jamshed was caught “red-handed”. 

Nasir, 27, a stylish left-handed opening batsman, has appeared in two Tests, 48 ODIs and 18 T20 internationals for Pakistan, but had last turned out for the national team in the 2015 World Cup. Nasir Jamshed was also investigated by the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL):

The Hindustan Times writes in its latest February 14, 2017 edition: Pakistan Cricket Board said in a statement that Nasir Jamshed will remain suspended from all forms of cricket for violation of its anti-corruption code in the Pakistan Super League. According to well-informed sources, the suspended Pakistani players Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif, who were sent back home from the PSL in Dubai last week had claimed during their questioning by anti-corruption officials that Nasir Jamshed had asked them to meet with the person suspected to be part of an international betting syndicate. Nasir also came under investigation by the Bangladesh Premier League anti-corruption officials. 

Research shows that after a Karachi resident Sajid Khan was detained for his suspected involvement in spot-fixing during the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League, the bank account number of Chittagong Kings’ Pakistani batsman Nasir Jamshed and the e-mail address of Dhaka Gladiators’ Rana Navedul Hasan was found in his mobile inbox. 

Bangladesh Cricket Board’s security chief, Col Mesbahuddin Serniabat (retd), had said his team had kept a watch on Sajid, who had arrived in Dhaka on February 10, 2012 in the guise of a cosmetic businessman, and finally caught him red-handed. 

Bookie Sajid was immediately taken to the visiting ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit official, before being handed over to the Mirpur police. 

Apprehended bookmaker Sajid was found making a call to Pakistan every time a six was struck while watching the game from the VIP gallery just on the top of a dressing room and had several times attempted to enter the players’ zone. 

On February 28, 2012, renowned Bangladeshi newspaper The Dhaka Mirror had written: The Bangladeshi Cricket Board security chief, Misbahuddin Serniabat, said they have found the bank accounts of Nasir Jamshed of Chittagong Kings and the e-mail address of Dhaka Gladiators’ Rana Naveedul Hasan in the mobile phone inbox of Sajid Khan. The police produced him before the chief metropolitan magistrate court and sought a five-day remand. The court granted remand for two days for further questioning. Serniabat said during preliminary interrogation Sajid confessed to them about having a financial dealing with Chittagong Kings cricketer Jamshed, who is now at the centre of all controversy. The Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, a private agency recruited by the BPL to work in the tournament, took very little time to quiz Jamshed. 

The Bangladeshi media house had added: The Pakistani was the top scorer in the BPL until this week when his form dramatically dipped. He made 290 runs in the first eight matches, but scored only 38 runs in last two matches, both of which Chittagong lost. An ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) official and an ICC match referee came to the hotel and quizzed Jamshed. They had some specific allegations against the player, which they gathered after quizzing the arrested man. The Bangladesh Cricket Board spokesman Jalal Yunus said it is now up to the police if they will quiz Jamshed or impose an embargo on his leaving Bangladesh. 

Meanwhile, Dhaka Gladiators captain Mashrafee bin Murtaza played down the significance of Rana Naveed’s e-mail address in the mobile inbox of arrested Sajid Khan and said it can always happen. 

It is imperative to note that this incident had taken place in less than three weeks from the time former Bangladeshi captain Mashrafee bin Murtaza had alleged that he was approached by a former cricketer for spot-fixing.  It is also noteworthy that during the Bangladesh Premier League 2013 edition, additional allegations about match fixing had emerged. 

The alleged match took place on February 2, 2013 between the Dhaka Gladiators and the Chittagong Kings teams. The 28-year-old Ashraful was allegedly paid about one million taka (USD 12,800) to lose the match. 

However, according to local media, the cheque he received was returned for insufficient funds. He was also allegedly involved in fixing another match 10 days later.  In 2014, the Bangladesh Cricket Board had banned Ashraful for eight years after he was found guilty of match-fixing. The ban was later reduced to 5 years with 2 years suspension. Ashraful had later apologised to the nation for his misbehaviour. 

In August 2016, his ban was partially lifted, allowing him to play in domestic cricket in Bangladesh. 

A little earlier, former Bangladesh spinner Shariful Haque was banned in September 2012 after an inquiry found him guilty of spot-fixing during the first edition of the BPL.