Saleem Malik had asked for a second chance to serve Pakistan cricket.
A day after Saleem Malik publicly requested “second chance” from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in order to return in a coaching capacity, the board has reportedly made it clear that former captain can’t take up any cricket activities in Pakistan until he explains his suspicious meetings in the UK.
He was handed a life ban from cricket in 2000 by the PCB following the spot-fixing allegations proved in 1994-95 Karachi Test against Australia, though, a local court in Lahore overturned the ban in October 2008, but both the PCB and the International Cricket Council (ICC) are yet to clear him from the charges.
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On Friday (April 24), a PCB source revealed why the former batsman wasn’t clear by the both PCB and ICC, saying Malik has still not responded to a notice issued to him in 2013 over a couple of suspicious meetings he had in the UK after he was banned for life for match-fixing in 2000.
The source further said Malik’s failure to provide the details about the meetings to the PCB led him to be sidelined from cricket despite a lower court overturning the life ban on charges of corruption.
The source told PTI on conditions of anonymity on Thursday, “Malik, to date, has not responded to the notice and that is why the PCB and ICC are not willing to give any clear statement on why Malik is not allowed to engage in any cricket activities.”
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He further added, “After the Board banned him for life in 2000 on the recommendations of Justice (retd) Qayyum judicial commission, Malik had some meetings in the UK the transcripts of which were obtained by the ICC and which raised doubts over the purpose of these meetings.”
Meanwhile, the source revealed that the PCB issued him a notice to first explain the nature of his meetings in the UK and also sent the transcripts after Malik had applied for permission to work as a batting consultant at the National Cricket Academy in 2010/11.
He also admitted that Malik got the life ban decision overturned in a district and sessions court in Lahore in 2008, but the PCB also did not bother to challenge the decision in a higher court.
The source signed off by saying, “The Board, with the change of management, took it easy on Malik after the decision by the lower court but when the ICC brought the matter of the meetings to their notice, he is again persona non grata in Pakistan cricket circles.”
Noteworthy, Malik, who considered one of the finest batsmen ever produced by Pakistan, had represented his country in 103 Tests and 283 ODIs before retiring from the game in 1999.
(With PTI Inputs)