Daily Times

LAHORE: Two days after Sharjeel Khan’s appeal against the five-year ban over spot-fixing was rejected by the appellate tribunal, the Pakistan opener`s lawyer Shaigan Ijaz vowed on Friday to challenge the decision in a high 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. One-man adjudicator retired Justice Faqir Khokhar upheld the ban late Wednesday and also rejected the PCB’s appeal to increase the punishment, which can range from five years to a life ban according to the anti-corruption code.

“The decision is disappointing and we will definitely go to the High Court after knowing on what grounds our appeal was rejected, Shaigan said. “The PCB has not been able to prove the spot-fixing and that has halted a promising career.” At the time of the ban, Sharjeel had played one Test, 25 One-day Internationals and 15 Twenty20s. He was also contracted by English county Leicestershire and was in line for getting more contracts in Twenty20 leagues around the world. His fellow opener Khalid Latif was banned for five years and fined one Rs1 million 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.

Published in Daily Times, November 11^th 2017.