PCB bans Khalid Latif for 5 years for spot-fixing in PSL

Agencies
September 20, 2017

Karachi, Sept 20: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has imposed a five-year ban and a fine of one million rupees on batsman Khalid Latif for his involvement in spot-fixing during the PSL.

In a short order released today, the three-member Tribunal of PCB headed by a former High Court judge Asghar Haider found Khalid guilty on all six breaches of the Cricket Board's anti-corruption code.

It said all the penalties imposed on Khalid will run concurrently with the maximum being five years and a fine of one million rupees to be recovered by the PCB. Khalid's lawyer Badr Alam, however, outrightly rejected the verdict and said the tribunal was not authorised to take such a decision.

"We don't accept this decision and we have already filed a challenge in the Supreme Court against the tribunal," he said. The same tribunal had last month imposed a five-year ban on another Pakistani batsman Sharjeel Khan for similar offences in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) played in February in Dubai. But while the tribunal has kept half of Sharjeel's five- year ban suspended, it didn't show any leniency on Khalid.

Khalid and his lawyer were involved in a continuous run- in with the tribunal since the start of the hearings in April. The player refused to appear in some of the hearings while his lawyer had challenged the formation and authority of the tribunal in the Lahore High Court, which dismissed his objections. While the tribunal accepted all five charges against Sharjeel brought up by the PCB, in Khalid's case it found the batsman guilty of an additional charge of coaxing and influencing Sharjeel to meet a bookmaker and involve in spot- fixing in the PSL.

Sharjeel and Khalid, 31, were sent back home from Dubai at the start of the PSL in February after being suspended under the PCB's anti-corruption code. Sharjeel's lawyer later said that his client will appeal the ban imposed on him with an independent adjudicator to be appointed by the Board. PCB's legal advisor Tafazzul Rizvi said the Board was not satisfied with the penalties imposed on Khalid and would contemplate appealing for a longer ban. "We stand vindicated in our fight against corruption as all six charges we had brought up against Khalid have been accepted by the tribunal.

The evidence we submitted during the hearings confirmed spot-fixing," he said. Rizvi said PCB's legal department was still considering whether to also challenge the five-year ban imposed on Sharjeel and ask for a longer ban. This is not the first time Pakistan cricket has been hit by spot-fixing and match-fixing allegations.

In 2010, three players including former Test captain Salman Butt and pace bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir were banned for a minimum of five-years by the ICC's anti-corruption tribunal for spot-fixing on the tour of England. Test leg-spinner Danish Kaneria is also serving a life ban imposed on him by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for spot-fixing in country matches in 2012.

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News Network
January 13,2020

Mumbai, Jan 13: India captain Virat Kohli indicated at dropping himself down the batting order to accommodate both Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul in the playing XI against Australia in the first ODI of the three-match series starting Tuesday.

With vice-captain Rohit Sharma an automatic pick, the team management is left with tough choice of selecting either Dhawan or Rahul in the XI. But the skipper sees no reason why both can't play together.

"Look, a guy in form is always good for the team. ...You obviously want to have the best players available and then chose from what the combination should be for the team. There might be a possibility that all three (Rohit, Shikhar and Rahul) might play. It will be interesting to see what balance we want to take in on the field," Kohli said on the eve of the match.

Asked if he would he be happy to bat lower down the order, Virat said,"Yeah, big possibility. I would be very happy to do so. Look I am not possessive about where I play. I am not insecure about where I bat," said the skipper.

For Kohli, it is more important as to what kind of leadership legacy he leaves behind rather than chase personal glory.

"Being the captain of the team, it is my job to make sure that the next lot is also ready. A lot of the other people might not look at it that way, but your job as a captain is not only to look after the team right now, but also to prepare a team that you leave behind when you eventually pass it onto someone else," he added.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar keep on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

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News Network
May 27,2020

Bengaluru, May 27: Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has revealed that he was never able to dismiss Inzamam-ul-Haq in the nets.

The Rawalpindi Express praised the former Pakistan skipper and said Inzamam could see the ball one second earlier than the rest of the batsmen could.

"Honestly, I don't think I could ever get him (Inzamam) out, he had the time and I always felt he saw the ball a second earlier than the rest of the batsmen because I had a complicated action unlike Brett Lee, I felt I could never dismiss Inzamam-ul-Haq," Akhtar told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I couldn't get him out in the nets, I think he could see the ball a second before anyone else," he added.

Inzamam played 120 Tests and 378 ODIs for Pakistan.

He finished his career with 20,569 runs across all formats.

The right-handed batsman called time on his career in 2007 and he played his last Test against South Africa in Lahore.

On the other hand, Akhtar played 224 matches for Pakistan in international cricket and took 444 wickets across all formats.

The Rawalpindi Express last played an ODI in 2011 as he played against New Zealand in the 50-over World Cup.

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