Match-Fixers Shouldn't Play For Pakistan Again, Says Mohammad Hafeez

In the last two decades or so, Pakistan have been rocked by numerous match-fixing scandals. Perhaps the biggest one took place in 2010 when Pakistan were touring England. Three of their most important players – the then captain Salman Butt, pace spearhead Mohammad Asif and young sensation Mohammad Amir – were caught in the fixing scandal and the repercussions soon followed.

All the players were then banned by the ICC for terms of between 5 and 10 years. In November 2011, Butt and Asif were found guilty by a London court on criminal charges relating to spot-fixing. The trio was also given prison sentences, ranging from six months to 30 months. From the three, only Amir has managed to make a successful return to international cricket thus far.

The left-arm pacer was recalled by Pakistan in 2016. Butt, on the other hand, has been doing well in domestic circuit but has not got the chance to play for Pakistan again. Asif, however, is nowhere close to getting a recall. Another player Sharjeel Khan, who too was involved in spot-fixing, is also in line to return to competitive cricket.

And as Pakistan continue to hand reprieve to the match-fixers, their veteran batsman Mohammad Hafeez has expressed his reservations against it. The allrounder firmly believes that anyone found guilty of match-fixing should never be allowed to play for Pakistan again.

“It was my principled decision and is still the same that whoever plays for Pakistan and is unable to uphold the honour of Pakistan should never get a chance to feel that pride [of representing Pakistan] again,” Mohammad Hafeez told Shoaib Akhtar for his YouTube channel.

“Those players are like my brothers and I do pray for them but what they did and besmirched the integrity of Pakistan, I was against that.

“I raised my voice in this regard but I was told in reply that they will play for Pakistan and if you wish to play as well, then you decide [what you want to do] and I was like really?

“So I went home and took advice as I did not want to spend giving my positive energy for Pakistan so I continued along with all those players although that was wrong and I still say that is wrong and will never be fruitful for Pakistan. Bringing back any such player will never be fruitful for Pakistan,” he added.

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