LAHORE: Although the Pakistan Cricket Board has reportedly questioned Chief Selector Moin Khan for being spotted at a Christchurch casino joint before the match against West Indies, he is likely to get away with this rather serious immoral act, as did former batsman Ijaz Ahmed, who had spent the night before June 20, 1999 World Cup final at a London gambling joint and was bowled out by Shane Warne for just 22 the next day, writes Sabir Shah. By the way, in January 2007, country’s former captain Moin Khan was arrested by Karachi Clifton police for beating up his wife, Tasneem Khan. Moin, who played 69 Tests and 219 one-day internationals for Pakistan, was freed on bail after submitting a surety bond. He was produced before a court and released on a guarantee that he would not repeat the act. (Reference: The January 17, 2007 reports of ESPN Cricinfo and Daily Jang) As far as cricketer Ijaz Ahmed is concerned, this former member of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s national selection committee and an ex- fielding coach at the National Cricket Academy was arrested by Gulberg Lahore police in March 2009 for issuing Rs11 million cheques that had later bounced. Having played 60 Test matches and 250 one-day internationals for Pakistan, Ijaz had to spend six weeks in jail before being released on bail. On October 22, 2012, a Lahore court had even charged Ijaz for forgery on a petition filed by two property dealers in the same case. (March 26, 2009 reports of the Associated Press, ESPN Cricinfo) and Daily Dawn)But, Moin Khan and Ijaz Ahmed are not the only players to have won lucrative PCB jobs after retirement, despite their shady past lives. On the eve of the first test match between Pakistan and the West Indies during Pakistan’s tour of 1993, Wasim Akram,Waqar Younis, Mustaq Ahmed and Aqib Javed—-country’s bowling cream— was held up by the Grenada police at a beach. They were caught with rum, marijuana and two suspicious looking females. The police had held them on charges of marijuana possession and the four had to spend a night in jail as the first Test was pushed ahead by a day. The incident was widely reported by the West Indian, Pakistani, Indian, British, South African and Australian media outlets. A former Pakistan captain Salim Malik, who happens to be the brother-in-law of Ijaz Ahmed, was banned in year 2000 for life from the game and was the first international cricketer to go to jail. He had played 103 Tests and 283 ODIs for Pakistan. His ban for life to play cricket was overturned in 2008 by a local court though. Fast bowler Ata-ur-Rehman was also banned in year 2000 for match fixing. Rookie fast bowler Muhammad Aamir, now planning a return to the game, was sentenced to six months in November 2011 by a British court for fancy betting in an August 2010 Test Match against England. He was sent to a Young Offenders’ Institution by Southwark Crown Court, England, for conspiracy to cheat at gambling and conspiracy to accept corrupt payments. In the same case, fast bowler Muhammad Asif was sentenced to 12 months in prison and national captain Salman Butt was sentenced to two years and six months in prison.Remember, in June 2008, Asif was apprehended at Dubai airport on charges of possessing illegal drugs. He was handcuffed while returning home from India after featuring in the Indian Premier League.Asif was banned for one year after he tested positive for the steroid Nandrolone in October 2006. In April 2011, Asif was cleared to enter UAE. We all remember the shameful allegations Asif’s ex-girlfriend and actress Veena Malik had leveled against him publicly a few years ago. Shoaib Akhtar, a vocal critic and cricketing expert on electronic media these days, was then banned for two years on the same charge. The bans were however lifted on appeal two months later. A lifetime ban was imposed on Shoaib Akhtar in April 2008 for repeated disciplinary problems.In September 2007, Pakistan’s preparations for the ICC World Twenty20 were rocked by an ugly incident between Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif in Johannesburg. The two were allegedly involved in a dressing room spat, which had resulted in Asif being struck by a bat on his left thigh by Shoaib.(References: June 3, 2008 edition of Daily Telegraph and an ESPN Cricinfo report) Leg spinner Danish Kaneria was arrested in 2010 by British police investigating “match irregularities” whilst playing in for Essex county. Although cleared initially, he was found guilty by an England and Wales Cricket Board disciplinary panel and was subsequently banned for life. Kaneria had appealed against the decision in 2013, but the ban was upheld. Kaneria had played 61 Test matches for Pakistan and took 261 wickets, besides featuring in 18 ODIs, taking 15 wickets (References: various reports of ESPN Cricinfo, and archives of innumerable local and British newspapers) Here follow a few more incidents that speak volumes of the immorality and loose character of various current Pakistani cricketers and those who had played in relatively recent times: Opening batsman Nasir Jamshed was imprisoned in April 2010 after being caught cheating in a ninth-grade English exam. He was later released on bail after submitting on a surety bond of Rs20,000. (Reference: ESPN Cricinfo) In November 2005, Shahid Afridi was banned for a Test match and two ODIs for deliberately damaging the pitch in the second match of the three-Test series against England. Television cameras had caught him scraping his boots on the pitch, when play was held up after a gas canister had exploded. Afridi had later pleaded guilty to a level three breach of the ICC code of conduct relating to the spirit of the game. Afridi was also charged on February 8, 2007 of bringing the game into disrepute, after he was seen on camera thrusting his bat at a spectator who swore at him on his way up the steps after being dismissed. He was given a four-game ODI suspension, the minimum possible ban for such an offence. On January 31, 2010, Shahid Afridi was caught on camera biting into the ball towards the end of the ODI series in Australia. He had later pleaded guilty to ball tampering and he was banned from two Twenty20 internationals. Last but not least on Afridi’s “heroics,” he was hit in the face by a female passenger’s brother in a plane in the late 90s, when the Pakistan team was flying back from Sri Lanka after a tour. It is easy to guess what the star all-rounder may have done, just minutes before this mid-air mishap! High-tempered Aamir Sohail, who played a big part in Pakistan’s World Cup triumph in 1992, had once famously told England star all-rounder Ian Botham that he might want to send his mother-in-law in to bat after Botham was controversially given out for zero in the final match. He had also sledged Indian medium pacer Venkatesh Prasad in a 1996 World Cup quarterfinal in front of a hostile Bangalore crowd, an incident that had probably cost Pakistan the crucial match from a winning position. Having pointed towards the boundary after hitting Prasad for a four, the poor Sohail had to pay the cost as he got bowled on the very next delivery. The all-time great Pakistani batsman Inzamam Ul Haq had jumped into the crowd during the 1997 Toronto Sahara Cup and had threatened to beat up a spectator, who was calling him with “cute nicknames.” In 2001, two young Pakistani cricketers Hasan Raza and Atique-uz- Zaman were caught merry-making in a Lahore hotel by the then Coach Javed Miandad. The guilty cricketers were suspended for some time and the matter was hushed up. During the 2006 Eurasia Cup in Abu Dhabi, the police had found cans of beer and had had arrested four Pakistani cricketers players, Messrs Misbah-ul-Haq, Taufeeq Umar, Hassan Raza and Zulqarnain Haider, along with their driver. The players were only released on the insistence of the Abu Dhabi Cricket Council and other top officials, but not before 8 pm on the eve of the final of the tournament. The four players, members of the Pakistan ‘A’ team at that time, had spent two-and-a-half hours in the lock-up in Dubai for traffic offence. It is imperative to note that Hasan Raza had scored a match winning unbeaten 106 and had shared a 4th wicket partnership of 174 with Misbah, who had hammered 73 to lead Pakistan A to a 6-wicket win in the final the next morning. Taufeeq Umar had given them a solid start with a run-a-ball 40. The then Pakistan Cricket Board Director, Cricket Operations, Saleem Altaf had told ‘’The News’’ that the Board would consider punishment after receiving the team manager Shafiq Ahmed’s report. Altaf, meanwhile, could not confirm the fact that liquour was found in the car. In February 2014, current middle-order batsman Umer Akmal was sent to a lock up after having had a scuffle with a Traffic warden in Lahore. A Sessions court of Lahore had issued his arrest warrants for not appearing in the court in Traffic Warden Assault case. Just a week later, Akmal was found guilty of using the number plate of another car, an illegal thing to practice anywhere in the world. He had not even paid the tax of his vehicle for a period of last one year, raising the attention of the Punjab Taxation Department. In 2011, Umer Akmal was accused of faking an injury. In its March 13, 2011 edition, this is what a reputed Indian newspaper “The Hindustan Times” had stated: “Scans on Umar’s injury have revealed no major damage. The team management was reportedly convinced that Umar was “faking an injury” to save his elder brother’s ouster from the team. It isn’t the first time that the Akmal brothers have been involved in a fake injury scandal. After Kamran dropped three catches and a run-out led to Pakistan losing a Test against Australia from a dominant position in Sydney in 2009, Umar was tipped to don the gloves in case additional gloves man Sarfaraz Ahmed failed to make it to Hobart in time for the next match. However, Umar reported a back spasm, allegedly to save his elder brother’s place in the side.” All-rounder Shoaib Malik had also flashed headlines in 2008 when an Indian woman Ayesha Siddiqui had alleged him of marrying her on June 3, 2002—-and then dumping her. Ayesha’s father M.A. Siddiqui, an Indian Muslim who worked in an Airline, had accused Shoaib of leaving his daughter in the cold, blaming the Pakistani cricketer of not responding when Ayesha wanted a divorce. According to Indian newspapers, Shoaib Malik and Ayesha had met in Jeddah in 2001 and had struck a friendship, which had later turned into a romance, which culminated in engagement (according to Shoaib Malik) in 2002. The news of Shoaib Malik’s involvement with Ayesha broke during Pakistan’s tour to India in 2005, when Ayesha’s father had thrown a huge gala in Hyderabad, in which the whole Pakistani team had participated along with many big shots. However, Shoaib Malik had denied the claim of M A Siddiqui, saying he just was engaged with Ayesha, and that the relations of both families became strained after the death of Faqeer Hussain, the father of Shoaib Malik. Apart from the above-mentioned scandals and controversies, there have been numerous other incidents where the national cricketers have brought shame to the country.
