Pakistan batsman Shahzaib Hasan, on Friday, became the fourth player to be provisionally suspended relating to the spot-fixing scandal in the Pakistan Super League. A charge sheet was filed on him too.
“Shahzaib has been charged with violations of Code Articles 2.1.4, 2.4.4 and 2.4.5 and now has 14 days to respond to the Notice of Charge,” said a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) statement.
Before Shahzaib, the PCB had already suspended Pakistan players — Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif and Mohammad Irfan — on similar charges.
Shahzaib, who appeared in the World T20 in England in 2009, is known for his power hitting in domestic cricket. He was questioned for long periods on Tuesday and Wednesday by the PCB anti-corruption unit officials and legal advisor in Lahore.
Sources revealed that Shahzaib admitted to the officials that he had been approached for spot-fixing in matches by a caller but he failed to report the approach on time.
Shahzaib has also claimed that he didn’t report the matter earlier as an unknown caller had threatened him and his family to remain quiet.
Interestingly, among the charges levelled against Shahzaib is one relating to an attempt to influence other players into spot-fixing.
The PCB has already formed a three-member tribunal headed by a former judge Asghar Haider to probe into the charges against Sharjeel and Khalid.
Both players have denied spot-fixing for suspected bookmaker Yousuf Anwar and an unnamed foreigner in Dubai but have admitted to not informing authorities when approaches were made to them to fix matches in the PSL.
Pacer Irfan, too, has denied spot-fixing and admitted to getting offers and not informing the authorities. He's also been provisionally suspended from all cricket and has 14 days to reply to the show cause notice issued to him, in which he has been charged with violation of some clauses of the ACU code.
The statement said that PCB ACU’s investigations into corrupt practices will continue.
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