Mohammad Amir confessed to spot fixing scandal only after Shahid Afridi handed him a slap, reveals former Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq
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The entire Cricketing fraternity remembers the dark day, which had not only tarnished the image of Pakistan Cricket in particular, but also of World Cricket at large. The spot-fixing scandal in 2010 involving Pakistan’s three brilliant cricketers- Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif, and Salman Butt had put everyone to shame. So much so that even today, a good player getting out in a manner he shouldn’t, or a big No-ball bowled by a bowler is looked with suspicion.
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Remembering those uneasy days of the past, former Pakistan all-rounder, Abdul Razzaq has spilled the beans on the incident which had apparently unearthed the spot-fixing scandal committed by Mohammad Amir.
Shahid Afridi had to eventually slap Amir
During an interaction with Pakistan’s GNN news channel, Abdul Razzaq revealed that the then Pakistan skipper in the ODI format- Shahid Afridi had to eventually slap Mohammad Amir to puke out the infamous and shameful act committed by him during the Lord’s Test in 2010.
“He (Afridi) told me to leave the room but after a while I heard the sound of a slap and then Amir told the whole truth,” Razzaq told the GNN news channel.
Razzaq blamed the then Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) set-up for having dealt with the scenario in an inappropriate manner. As per him, the PCB officials should have themselves dealt with the matter by slapping them with a one-year ban.
“I thought instead of going to the ICC to prove its efficiency, the PCB should have instead directly taken the three players to task despite their denials and sent them back home on some pretext. They should have banned them for a year or so. In the end by not doing this, the PCB spoilt the image of Pakistan cricket worldwide”, exclaimed Razzaq.
On Salman Butt
Razzaq also opened up on another spot-fixing perpetrator- the left-handed batsman Salman Butt, as according to him he had got the intimidation that that something was wrong in the way he (Salman) was playing. He was deliberately playing dot-balls and was trying his best to get out much before the scandal had come into picture in England.
“I shared my concerns with Afridi but he said it is just my Waham (misconception) and nothing is wrong. But when I was batting with Salman Butt during a match of the World T20 in West Indies, I was convinced he was letting down the team”, exclaimed the 39-year-old.
Razzaq recalled he told Butt to take a single and give him the strike but he did not pay heed to his advise.
“I was surprised when he refused this strategy. When I realised what he was up to (something) I told him strictly to give me the strike. Yet every over he deliberately played two or three balls and then gave me strike. I got upset and felt the pressure and got out.”
The Pakistan cricket spot-fixing scandal was a scandal centering on certain members of Pakistan’s national cricket team, who were convicted of taking bribes from a bookmaker, Mazhar Majeed, to deliberately underperform at certain times in a Test match at Lord’s, London, in 2010.
