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I was approached by bookies, says Akhtar

Karachi: In a sensational revelation, banned Pakistan pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar on Wednesday said he was approached by match fixers during tours of India and South Africa but insisted that he never took up their offer of under-performing for money.

“I have rejected many offers to under-perform. It happened in Johannesburg and India but I never accepted them as I can’t betray my country,” Akhtar said in an interview to Geo TV.

“And what do I get in return a five-year ban the example of which you don’t get anywhere in the cricket world. Even players who were fined and found involved in match- fixing issues didn’t get such bans,” a bitter Akhtar, who was handed the ban by the Pakistan Cricket Board for indiscipline, added.

The controversial fast bowler, who will play for the Kolkata team in Indian Premier League, said he had been signed up on the insistence of former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly.

“If I had been so undisciplined and had an attitude problem as the Pakistan board claims do you think that Shah Rukh Khan or Ganguly would want me to play for their team in the IPL,” he stated.

Akhtar also said that he got a million dollar offer from the rebel Indian Cricket League but didn’t accept because the board wanted him to play in the Indian Premier League.

“I could have gone to the ICL right away but I didn’t because I love my country and I can’t think about not playing for the national team,” he said.

Catch-22 situation

Meanwhile, Akhtar may find himself in a catch-22 situation when he contemplates the pros and cons of taking the legal course to challenge the five-year ban imposed on him by the PCB, sources say.

The perennial bad boy of Pakistan cricket will soon announce whether he plans to appeal against the ban for violating a two-year probation period and other misconducts, but sources close to the Board have said that the fast bowler will have to think hard about going to court as it might cost him his lucrative Indian Premier League contract.

Mixed reactions

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s new Sports Minister Khawaja Asif has refused to intervene to get the ban on Akhtar revoked, saying there were many more important things to be handled in the country.

“I have absolutely no clue what has happened on Tuesday. I have taken the charge of the sports ministry only today. However, they are far more important issues to be looked into than this ban on Akhtar,” Asif said on Wednesday.

But former Pakistan captain Rameez Raja supported the decision to impose a ban on Akhtar. “He has been a problem child for some time now. This is not the first time he has had problems with discipline. I think the five-year ban is justified and was coming for a while now. The authorities had no other choice,” Raja said.

On the other hand, Imran Khan said: “It is totally unacceptable. This ban it literally ends his career. The board is destroying Pakistan cricket by banning players.”

Javed Miandad said he was stunned by severity of the punishment. “It came as a shock to me because the board has always had a reputation of being soft on disciplinary issues. And now this matter was not that serious that they try to end his career,” he said.

Former batsman Zaheer Abbas said Akhtar’s ban would weaken the team.

“Disappointing is no word to describe Akhtar’s ban, I would call it pathetic and request the new political government to sack Nasim Ashraf-led PCB,” Sarfraz Nawaz, a former Test cricketer and once Akhtar’s coach said. — Agencies

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