The South African superstar Nasir Jamshed’s 10-year ban for his involvement in the spot-fixing row that rocked the PSL during the 2016-17 season was upheld by an independent adjudicator on Monday (October 21).
Justice (R) Mian Hamid Farooq, in his order, noted that the ban levied on Nasir Jamshed was “perfectly justified” and would continue to remain in place. However, the additional penalties imposed by the Anti-Corruption Tribunal related to: “inclusion of Nasir in the list of players to be avoided by cricketers and all stakeholders” and “not to be given an important role in the management or administration of cricket” have been “set aside” as they don’t come under the jurisdiction of Article 6.2 of the PCB’s Anti-Corruption Code.
Earlier in August, PCB’s Anti-Corruption Tribunal had observed that he was guilty in relation to five of the seven breaches of the board’s anti-corruption code. The tribunal also decided that alongside banning the cricketer from playing any form of cricket during the aforementioned period, a player who has violated the anti-corruption code should also be disqualified from taking up any administrative positions with regard to Pakistan cricket for life.
The PCB had termed Jamshed as the key figure in the scandal as he recruited the players on behalf of bookies for spot-fixing. “Our point was proved and accepted by the tribunal, and they found him guilty on multiple charges,” PCB’s lawyer Taffazul Rizvi told the reporters outside the PCB headquarters in Lahore.
“Even if he returns after rehabilitation, he is not allowed to be engaged in any cricket management role and will be kept him away from cricket. We also suggested his name be added in a list of persons mentioned in anti-corruption lectures who are to be avoided by the players. So this all ends here.
“There are some cases which don’t make you happy despite you winning it. This is one such. Because a player has destroyed his career due to spot-fixing and failure to report approaches,” he added.
In December 2017, Jamshed was also suspended for one year by the board after an anti-corruption tribunal noted he was guilty of “non-cooperation” in relation to the spot-fixing case. The ban meant that Jamshed couldn’t play cricket till February 13, 2018 – exactly one year on from the time when he was initially suspended.
After his ban ended, the board had slapped him with seven violations of their anti-corruption code. Jamshed had replied by rejecting the charges against him in April. As a result, the PCB drafted a statement, saying that the chairman Najam Sethi had taken up the matter for resolution to a three-member anti-corruption tribunal. shocked everyone earlier this year with his international retirement decision. He had just made a comeback to the arena and the way De Villiers had fared in all the formats had suggested something special. But he was ‘tired’ due to excessive cricket and was happy to let go the dream of winning the World Cup. However, there is still a twist in the tale as the man himself is now going to reconsider his decision and might even make a return.
According to the reports in Sports Tak, AB de Villiers will take a final call on his international retirement in January next year. This means that there is every possibility of him making a comeback and give it a final shot to winning the World Cup which will take place in England. The team is feeling his absence in the middle-order which was even evident against Zimbabwe and if De Villiers decides to return, it will be a huge boost for the struggling Proteas.
The news was revealed by Vikrant Gupta, the sports editor in Aaj Tak, while reviewing the first ODI between India and Windies on their Youtube channel. This comes as a delighting news for De Villiers’ fans who were extremely saddened by his decision.
