Former captain Saleem Malik said he is ready to co-operate with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and International Cricket Council (ICC) to get their clearance and be allowed to earn a living from the game once again.
Malik played 103 Tests and 283 ODIs before the turn of the century. He was banned for life over involvement in match-fixing by the PCB on the recommendations of the Justice (Retd) Malik Qayyum judicial commission, which reported the whole fiasco.
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Even though the ban was lifted in 2008 by a lower district and sessions court, the PCB has not allowed him back into the system.
"Purely on human rights ground I think I also deserve a second chance to earn my livelihood from cricket which has always been my bread and butter," said the 57-year-old in a video message, where he also apologised to fans and the nation for his ill-advised actions.
Malik has taken confidence from PCB allowing various other names involved in different fixing scandals to resume with their careers in recent times.
Tafazzul Rizvi, the legal advisor of the PCB, said it was nice to hear an apology from Malik and him offering to co-operate with ICC, PCB.
"For any player desirous of wanting to make a comeback the only way is to fully cooperate with his board under the anti-corruption laws," Rizvi was quoted as saying by PTI. "First of all Saleem Malik should respond to the questions we had asked him in April, 2011 regarding the meetings he held in London."
A source close to the development told PTI that "after the board banned him for life in 2000 on the recommendations of the Justice (retd) Malik 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."
But to date, Malik "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", which is why when he applied to work at the NCA in Lahore around 2010-11, he was asked to first explain the details of those meetings in the UK.
(Inputs from PTI)
