Mohammad Asif, the discarded pacer believes that Pakistan Cricket Board did not put their all possible efforts to save him and his fellows, Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir from lengthy bans.
The trio was handed lengthy bans of 10,
five and seven years respectively by the International Cricket Council
(ICC) for their alleged involvement in spot fixing. Last year Amir, Asif
and Butt were alleged to have taken money from
Mazhar Majeed, for throwing no-balls during the fourth Test against England.
"I am not blaming the PCB for what
happened but certainly they and even the government could have done more
to save us from such a long ban," Asif said.
The spot-fixing incident of three
cricketers was revealed by the News of World, after which they were
suspended and were said to appear in the ICC anti-corruption tribunal.
"If the Board wanted, they could have
stepped in when the spot fixing scandal broke out and handled things
themselves. They should have sent us home immediately and then tried us
themselves instead of allowing the ICC to take charge,"
Asif said.
The hearing of their case started in
January and prolonged till February. Butt, who was captain during last
years’ Test series against England, was handed a 10-year ban with five years of suspension, while Asif was banned for seven
years with two years of suspension, while Aamir was punished with a five-year ban.
During the hearing, PCB revealed that they
were not going to provide any kind of support to their any of
cricketers involved in the spot-fixing incident.
The incident left a negative image of Pakistan cricket all over the world and also provoked the PCB to take even strict measures to keep an eye on players’ activities.
"I can't say more on this because I have
appealed against the ban and also in October I am hopeful that the case
will be dismissed and I can get back to playing cricket," he said.
Asif conceded that he has been involved in
some bad activities, but thinks that the ban handed to him was heavier
than the mistake he committed.
After the ban handed to the trio, none of
these cricketers can participate in any kind of cricketing activity
until the duration of their banned period ends.
Asif, who started his International career
in January 2005, has featured in 23 Test matches and has claimed 106
wickets, at a brilliant average of 24.36, including his best bowling
innings of 6/41.
The right-arm pacer has also appeared in
38 One-Day International matches, and bowling in 36 ODIs, he picked 46
wickets at an average of 33.13, including his best bowling figure of
3/28.
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