Playing in the mud

Pakistan will today take on hosts West Indies in a Twenty20 International at Kensington Oval in Barbados. This will be the first game of a rare four-match T20I series. The game will also be a perfect distraction from a PSL spot-fixing scandal that has snowballed into a major headache for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The alleged corruption scam which broke out at the very onset of the Pakistan Super League’s season 2 in Dubai last month has seen a total of five cricketers provisionally suspended. A three-person tribunal is carrying out investigations into the scandal and any players found guilty could be banned for life. The FIA has meanwhile launched its separate investigation, to some displeasure of the PCB.

The five players at the heart of the scandal are Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif, Mohammad Irfan, Shahzaib Hasan and Nasir Jamshed. Two of them – Sharjeel and Irfan – were actively performing national duty before getting embroiled in the case. The other three had also played for Pakistan in recent years. There are fears that as the case progresses more cricketers could be investigated for wrongdoing during the PSL. It is of utmost importance for the future of Pakistan cricket that this case is handled properly. It is not the first time that the image of Pakistan cricket has been tarnished and it may not be the last. The menace of match fixing is widespread and has been a major cause for concern for those at the helm of world cricket. But Pakistan is easily the biggest victim. The country lost three of its key players in the aftermath of a spot-fixing scandal back in 2010 and is now once again facing another major corruption case. We have to take a long, hard look at the reasons that make our cricketers more susceptible to temptation compared to players from other countries. We have to also make sure whether our anti-corruption authorities are competent enough to curb illegal practices. We have to double check whether we are taking enough measures to warn our young cricketers to stay away from trouble and whether we are doing enough to shield them from bookie mafias. After what has happened during PSL 2, it is obvious that we have to do more.