Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Pakistans former captain,Imran Khan fears that the menace of spot-fixing might be going on uninterrupted in many countries and was not just a problem confined to Pakistan cricket.
I still fear that there is no way to stop this problem of betting and spot fixing. How can anyone tell that something is wrong if a batsman plays a maiden over or if a bowler bowls a no-ball, he said.
Imran said that in 1994 when the match fixing accusations first broke out in Pakistan,he had gone to the PCB office and told the officials to take exemplary action against the players alleged to have indulged in match-fixing. I told them this is the time to root out this disease. I think that perhaps if at that time the board had taken decisive action we would never have seen this problem again, he said.
He also recalled how in 1988 during a tournament in Sharjah,a bookie had called him up late night and informed him that four of his players would underperform in next days final. I just went out next day and warned the team I was keeping a close watch on them and if I even suspected someone had not given his best he would not only never play for Pakistan again but be put behind bars, he said.
