LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has provisionally suspended Mohammad Irfan in the spot-fixing scandal, reported on Tuesday.
As per details, PCB has handed over Notice of Charge to Irfan and given him fourteen days to submit his reply. The fast bowler is charged with two violations of Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) and has been conditionally suspended from participating in all forms of cricket with immediate effect.
Earlier on Monday, Irfan presented himself before the PCB ACU and recorded his statement in which he admitted that he was contacted by the bookie.
Mohammad Irfan, however, was of the opinion that owing to the mental stress that he was facing after his parents’ death, he could not inform the team management and anti-corruption officials about the matter. Irfan’s father had passed away in September and his mother died in January.
It is pertinent here to mention that PCB earlier suspended Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif and Nasir Jamshed over alleged spot-fixing in the second edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif were sent back to Pakistan from Dubai during the event. Nasir Jamshed also allegedly played a part in conducting meetings of Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif with a person linked to an international betting syndicate, and is said to be his friend. Both Jamshed and the bookie were arrested in UK previous month but got bailed till April.
PCB formed a three-member tribunal afterwards that is chaired by retired judge Asghar Haider to investigate this case. Tauqir Zia and Wasim Bari are the other two members.
Names of Mohammad Irfan and Shahzeb Hassan had also come up in the scandal along with Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif during PSL 2, but they were not immediately sent back due to lack of solid evidence. Irfan was dropped from one match only, and played the whole tournament afterwards as he was cleared by the authorities.
The pacer has represented Pakistan in four Tests, 60 one-day internationals (ODIs) and 20 Twenty20s so far. Agencies