PCB's anti-corruption body grills Muhammad Sami over spot-fixing

LAHORE: Fast bowler Muhammad Sami on Friday appeared before the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) anti-corruption body in connection with a probe into the allegations of spot-fixing.

Sami, who is currently playing in the Bangladesh Premier League, was summoned by the board’s Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) for questioning.

A PCB official said the pacer appeared before the probe body and was interrogated for around two hours. He said Sami was called in to provide some specific information about a probe into a spot-fixing scandal.

Of late, an appeal by fast-rising Pakistan opener Sharjeel Khan against a five-year ban over spot-fixing was rejected with his lawyer on Thursday vowing to challenge the decision in a higher court.

Sharjeel, 28, was banned for five years, two-and-a-half of them suspended, in August following an investigation by a three-member Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) tribunal.

The scandal surfaced during the second edition of the Pakistan Super League in February this year. The league was held in the United Arab Emirates with the final staged in Lahore.

Sharjeel was charged with deliberately playing two dot balls – deliveries off which no run is scored – in his team Islamabad United’s opening match against Peshawar Zalmi in Dubai.

Spot-fixing involves determining the outcome of a specific part of a match rather than the overall result, and is therefore harder to detect than match-fixing.

His fellow opener Khalid Latif was banned for five years and fined one million rupees for orchestrating the deal with a bookie.

Paceman Mohammad Irfan and spinner Mohammad Nawaz were banned for one year and two months respectively over not reporting fixing offers.

Two other players – Shahzaib Hasan and Nasir Jamshed – are also under investigation by the tribunal.