Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has slammed the country’s cricket governing board for failing to handle the players involved or accused in match-fixing or betting-related cases after another high-profile cricketer in the form of Umar Akmal became a victim.
Pakistan batsman Umar has been banned by the Disciplinary Panel of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) from all forms of cricket for three years for failing to report spot-fixing offers, the board said on Monday.
Speaking about the incident on his Youtube channel, Akhtar said that Umar was always a controversial figure and now by falling prey to a fixing scandal he has ruined his career.
“Umar Akmal does something every 6 months that he gets caught. He keeps on getting caught in something or the other and he keeps on doing wrong things. In 8-10 years if Virat Kohli has scored 30-40 centuries and Umar has scored just 3 then it is only his fault. He has ruined his own career,” Akhtar said.
The world’s fastest bowler also tore into the legal department of the PCB and called out Fazal Rizvi and his team for failing to handle the issue of match-fixing properly which has been relevant in Pakistan cricket over the years.
“But is his punishment justified? Let me tell you PCB’s legal department is completely useless and incompetent. Fazal Rizvi in particular, I don’t know where he has come from. He has good connections and has been in the PCB for the past 10-15 years. There hasn’t been a single case that he has lost.
“When PCB made online betting legal for the Pakistan Super League, what was the PCB thinking then? When our law and constitution doesn’t allow betting then how did the PCB overlook this thing?
“PCB made a huge mistake and insulted our constitution. PCB also insulted Islam when it allowed online betting. Nobody knew about this contract which was sublet by the PCB. We didn’t know about this, the PSL franchises didn’t know as well.
“Also I would like to know why isn’t a law being passed on match-fixing wherein a player found guilty will be jailed for at least 10 years like it is in Sri Lanka. If this law is passed then nobody will dare to commit a crime like match-fixing again. It started from 1995, it is 2020 now but people are still fixing matches. This is because of PCB’s incompetence, because of its legal department’s incompetence,” Akhtar said.