As promised today we take a look at some more confessions from cricket players as well as administrators.
Ata Ur Rehman S/o Talib Hussain (Recorded on 10th December, 1998)
I reiterate that the statement which I made earlier before the commission was correct. Earlier, I had given an affidavit voluntarily and of my own accord. Earlier, when my statement was recorded, Khalid Mahmood, chairman pcb, was present and therefore I could not say everything. Now I wish to make a supplementary statement to put the record straight. My statement before the probe committee was true and correct to the effect that Akram had himself given me money to play badly. While I was in England, Akram prevailed upon me to give an affidavit to the effect that the earlier affidavit given by me was under coercion and influence. At that time I was in Newcastle and was asked by Akram to come over to Manchester where he threatened me with dire consequences and said that he was much stronger than me in Pakistan, upon which I succumbed to his pressure. I was thereupon provided an air ticket from Newcastle to Manchester and back by Akram which was charged to his credit card. I am producing a part of the air ticket as also the copy of the affidavit which I had signed. The affidavit was prepared by the lawyer of Akram and got signed by me. Before making the statement before the commission I was advised by Khalid Mahmood to retract my statement which I had made before the senate committee and earlier affidavit. My original affidavit is lying with Khalid Mahmood. When we came back to Pakistan from New Zealand Akram gave me Rs 100,000 and promised to pay the remaining amount if I continued indulging in match-fixing. Thereafter my mother fell ill and my sister was operated upon and my conscience pricked me with the result that I stopped becoming a party to it.
Basit Ali S/o Abid Ali (Recorded on 19th September, 1998)
I was a member of the team from ’93 to ’95. In ’94 there was a tournament in Sharjah… Pakistan came into the final. There was a rest day before the final. At 8 am I received a call from somebody who named himself Raqeeb that if I got out for less than 10 runs he would pay me Rs 10 lakh. He was speaking in Urdu. I refused him. He said he will ring me again and I should think over the matter. I informed Intikhab Alam. We went for practice and then came back about 1 pm. I received a call from Intikhab that I should come to his room. At that time Malik was captain. He disclosed he had received calls from Karachi and Lahore and the Pakistan Board that Pakistan was going to lose the match. All the players were called and asked to swear on the holy Quran that none of us is involved in match-fixing. There was a prize money of $10,000 for the runners-up. When we went to the ground Alam told us he had bet $10,000 on Pakistan winning the match. We won that match. I scored 57. When we were in South Africa, I and Moin Khan went to the reception to collect our keys. Moin Khan asked me whether I knew a person who was standing there. I said no. Moin Khan said that man was Hanif Kadburi, renowned bookmaker. He went in the lift to the floor where our team was staying. Although we tried to see as to whose room he went in but we could not as he went to the other side. I may state here that before all the matches we used to put our hands on the Holy Quran and take the oath that we will play to the best of our ability. Then there was a team meeting in which Aaquib Javed complained to Intikhab Alam that bookmakers were coming to rooms of the players and that we should take some steps. However, Ijaz protested and said he could not be asked not to see old friends. This led to an altercation between Aaquib Javed and Ijaz and the meeting had to be dispersed. We played the final in Johannesburg. I did not play that match as I was dropped. I went to the dressing room after practice and heard some quarrel going on. While I was entering I met Salim Malik who was leaving the room. I then saw the whole team leave in different groups of two or three individuals. I met Intikhab Alam who told me that there had been a fight between Rashid Latif and Salim Malik. Latif had asked Salim Malik to take an oath on the Quran before going for the toss. However, Salim Malik went directly… for the toss. This led to an altercation. Later on, Ijaz and Waqar joined on the sides of Malik and Rashid respectively. Akram intervened and stopped the fight. When the team played the match the captain was not parting with any instructions to anyone. When as the 12th man I went along with the figures to the captain I was asked to go away as he said he did not require any information. We lost that final. Later on, Alam said no one will be allowed to leave the dressing room till such time that there is a conciliation in the whole team. After great efforts we managed to persuade Malik to reconcile with Rashid. From ’92 to ’95 our team gave excellent performance but after ’96 the performance was very poor. It is absolutely false that I made some statement before Intikhab Alam confessing that I indulged in betting or match-fixing. It is also wrong that I retired because of the betting or match-fixing. As a matter of fact, circumstances created by the captain and the management were such that I had no option but to resign. Our team was divided into various groups after 1995. One comprising Malik, Ijaz, Akram Raza, Ata-ur-Rehman and Akram and the other of Inzamam, myself, Mushtaq Ahmed and Waqar.
Bobby Simpson (Recorded on 18th January, 1995)
AS you are aware I am most concerned about the gambling and felt string enough about it to hold a private meeting with David Richards in Lahore after the final test match. I reported at length to David the approaches that were made to our players and we discussed this in great detail. I requested the meeting with David as he is the Executive Director of the ICC and I feel action should be taken about the increase in gambling. On the evening of October 1st, the night before the last day of the first test, Salim Malik, Pakistan Captain, approached one of our bowlers and offered an enormous bribe if he and one other bowler were prepared to bowl poorly the next day and throw the match. Obviously this was refused. It is interesting that the next day Pakistan did win the game in a sensational finish. October 20, at the President of Pakistan’s dinner, Malik again approached the same Australian bowler and once again offered a huge amount if he and three other Australian players threw the match. Once again the offer was refused. Two days later Pakistan beat Australia easily and after the match Malik said, “Pity you didn’t accept my offer as you have lost anyway”. After our arrival in Pakistan from Sri Lanka the press published reports that the Pakistan team had been accused of accepting bribes in Colombo to throw game. The BCCP said that they would investigate, but we didn’t hear anymore about this matter. The question of bribes and gambling was frequently mentioned to us by people close to the game. I discussed this matter with David Richards of the ICC in Pakistan. Go
Haroon Rasheed S/o Munawwar Rasheed (Recorded on 19th September, 1998) In July 1997,
I took over charge as coach of the senior Pakistan team. During my tenure there were some matches which I as a cricketer felt should have been won by Pakistan but they lost. In my opinion they were thrown away. There was a one-dayer being played between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Colombo in the Asia Cup 1997 in which Pakistan had to chase 239 and at one time (when) Salim Malik and Inzamam were batting, we felt Pakistan would win the match very easily but there was some confusion between Malik and Inzamam which resulted in the latter being run out. The call had been made by Malik. Immediately after, Malik played a very irresponsible stroke and got out. As a matter of fact, he threw his wicket away. Pakistan lost this match by 9 runs. At that time I was present in the dressing room. Inzamam told me they (he and Malik) had decided not to take risky runs but Malik made a call to which he had to respond. In the same tournament Rashid Latif came out with an interview in Outlook in which he accused both Pakistani and Indian cricketers of indulging in match-fixing and throwing away matches. We contacted Latif who through a fax message contradicted some of the contents of the article and specifically stated he had never accused Saeed Anwar of involvement in match-fixing. However, there was no denial with respect to Malik and Akram. The next tournament was the Sahara Cup in Toronto. In one match, India scored 208 runs. Malik and Saqlain were batting well but again there was a mix-up which resulted in the latter being run out… the call was made by Malik. In five overs Pakistan had to score 20 runs for victory but Malik got out while playing a stroke which as a cricketer I would say he threw away his wicket. The kind of stroke he played was unnecessary because the runs could be scored without taking any risk. There was a strange incident in the home one-day series against India. In Karachi India had to score 16-17 runs in the last over which was to be bowled by Saqlain who gave away the runs. Such bowling could not be expected of a bowler of Saqlain’s calibre. He conceded those runs to Indian tailenders. In the triangular series which was arranged to celebrate the golden jubilee of Pakistan’s Independence, Akram was appointed captain. During this period, there was division among members of the team into various groups which kept accusing each other. On one occasion Akram changed the batting order and batted ahead of Moin and Ijaz. In one match against Sri Lanka, Ijaz was out of form and I suggested to Akram that Inzamam should be sent ahead of Ijaz as he was in form. He didn’t agree. Although Ijaz scored 94 runs it was a slow innings and Pakistan scored less than what was in our mind. Again Akram changed the batting order and went ahead of other players mentioned above. As an ex-cricketer having remained in management my own feeling is Akram, Ijaz and Malik have played irresponsibly, without any planning. From all this, the possibility of their involvement in betting and match-fixing can’t be ruled out.
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