Saleem Malik Offered Me And Tim May $276,000 Bribe To Bowl Poorly In 1994 Karachi Test - Shane Warne
Published - 07 Jan 2022, 06:42 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:03 AM
Australia leg-spin legend Shane Warne has revealed that former Pakistan skipper Saleem Malik had offered him and fellow spinner Tim May US$200,000 ($AUD276,000) each to bowl poorly during the Karachi Test match of the 1994 Test series between the two sides.
In an illustrious career spanning over 145 Tests, the leg-spin great scalped 708 wickets in Test cricket while 293 in One-day Internationals. However, during his career, Warne was not immune to controversies both on and off the field.
Many remember him and Mark Waugh being found guilty of taking money from an Indian bookie ‘John’ to provide pitch and team information to him during the Singer World Series tournament in Sri Lanka in September 1994, which involved India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Australia.
However, now in his upcoming documentary Shane, the legendary spinner has revealed that during the 1994 Test tour of Pakistan, he and Tim May were offered a huge sum of money by then Pakistan captain Saleem Malik to bowl poorly as the home team looked for a win in the Karachi Test match.
Our Houses Will Get Burnt Down, Out Family’s Houses Will Get Burnt Down: Shane Warne Recalls Saleem Malik Offering Huge Money To Bowl Badly
It was during the 1994 Test between Australia and Pakistan when the opposition skipper Saleem Malik offered Warne and Tim May US$200,000 ($AUD276,000) each to bowl wide of the stumps.
“We’re feeling pretty confident that we’re going to knock over Pakistan. I knock on the door, Saleem Malik answers the door. I sit down, and he goes, ‘Good match we’ve got going’. I went, ‘Yep, I think we should win tomorrow though’. He goes, ‘Well we can’t lose …. you don’t understand what happens when we lose in Pakistan. Our houses will get burnt down, out family’s houses will get burnt down’,” Warne said in his upcoming documentary Shane.
Australia needed seven more wickets to win the Test at Karachi’s National Stadium when Warne, who was at the time was on an annual contract worth approximately AUD$25,000-30,000, turned it down.
“I don’t really know what to say. I just sort of sat there, stunned. And then I go, ‘F*** you, mate. We’re going to beat ya’. When you talk about match-fixing now, people hope it doesn’t go on. Back in that time, 30 years ago, there was no talk about it. It had never raised its head anywhere in any sport. When he offered me that, it was a bit like, ‘What the hell?’ I was blown away, I didn’t know anything about it,” Warne said.
Warne and Tim had also informed Mark Taylor and national coach Bob Simpson about the incident, which was also communicated to match referee John Reid. Saleem Malik was later banned for life from cricket in 2000 after being found guilty of match-fixing and ended his career with 5768 runs in Test cricket including 15 centuries and 7170 runs in One-day Internationals.
Shane Warne, on the other hand, in an illustrious career spanning over 145 Tests, scalped 708 wickets in Test cricket while 293 in One-day Internationals before retiring from the game in 2007.
