Nasir handed ten-year ban over spot-fixing

LAHORE: A three-man tribunal on Friday banned former Test opener Nasir Jamshed for ten years over multiple charges of spot-fixing.

Nasir, according to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), was the ‘linchpin’ connecting several corruption cases. Considered a central figure in the corruption scandal, he faced charges of approaching and soliciting other players for fixing.

“Today’s decision against Jamshed wraps up the fixing saga and the tribunal has banned him for ten years on multiple charges,” said PCB’s legal adviser Taffazul Rizvi in footage shared on the board’s Twitter account.

Spot-fixing refers to illegal activity in a sport where a specific part of a game is fixed, unlike match-fixing, where the whole result is fixed.Nasir was first banned for 12 months in December last year after he was found guilty of non-cooperation with the tribunal investigating allegations of spot-fixing.

This year, he faced five further charges related to fixing, all of which were proven said Rizvi, who said it was “a matter of sadness that another player has spoiled his career.” Swashbuckling opener Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif, Mohammad Irfan and Mohammad Nawaz had also been given bans of varying lengths.

At least one part of the evidence against Nasir was a collection of voice recordings allegedly between him and others also implicated in the case. These recordings were also leaked to the media.

The PCB prosecution, however, mainly acted on the testimonials in which they treated Nasir as the axis who was enticing players into the fixing web.Regarded as a talented left-hander, Nasir played two Tests, 48 one-day and 18 Twenty20 internationals for Pakistan. He hit three consecutive one-day hundreds against India in 2012.

His career nosedived during the 2015 World Cup where he was found overweight and mocked at during fielding, managing just five runs in three matches.Nasir and his lawyer Hasan Warraich had rejected the charges.Rizvi said Nasir will not be allowed to hold any office even after the ban expires.“His name will be put on the list of avoided people,” he said.