LAHORE: Pakistan’s suspended Test batsman Sharjeel Khan on Tuesday alleged that the punishment meted out to him by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for his involvement in the Pakistan Super League spot-fixing case was unjust and that he would appeal the five-year ban slapped on him.

The dashing opener, addressing his first news conference since being punished by the PCB-appointed Anti-Corruption Tribunal, said the country’s cricket governing body had tried to implicate him in the scandal which broke out during the beginning of the second edition of the country’s glitzy Twenty20 league in the United Arab Emirates.

“I and my lawyer [Sheghan Ijaz] fully cooperated with the PCB throughout the case and we expected justice from them,” Sharjeel said, while reading out a written statement. “However, I’m sorry to say that the PCB tribunal tried to unfairly involve me in the case.

“There seems to be some hidden agenda behind it and I hope the real story will be exposed in due course. The punishment handed out to me has been very painful to not only me but my family as well and I will take every step to clear my name and stage a comeback.”

The 28-year-old appealed to the Prime Minister as well as the Chief of Army Staff for a fair trial.

“I appeal to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Army chief, sports standing committees [of the parliament], chief justice and the PCB chairman to give me a fair trial,” he said. “Chief Justice of Pakistan should take a suo-motu action to hear my case.

Test opener to go to court against five-year ban, appeals to PM for fair trial

“I would also like to meet [PCB chief} Najam Sethi so I can clear myself of the wrong allegation put on me by the PCB Anti-Corruption Unit.”

Sheghan, sitting alongside Sharjeel, said the decisions against his client were given on the basis of assumption as the PCB had failed to prove the allegations.

“The biggest sign of PCB’s ill will towards Sharjeel can be seen that it amended its Code of Conduct during the hearing of the case,” the lawyer said.

While the tribunal announced its verdict against Sharjeel on August 30, 2017, changes were made in Article 7 of the Code of Conduct on July 28, 2017 which said that the spot-fixing convicts weren’t allowed to file a writ against the decision before any Pakistani courts but before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland.

“How can Sharjeel afford to spend such a heavy amount to file an appeal in Switzerland,” Sheghan questioned. “We will go to local courts as the amendment has no standing at all as neither we nor the tribunal and the adjudicator knew about it.”

He also questioned how Sethi could endorse the allegation soon after the scandal broke in Dubai.

“It wasn’t the right time to speak out in favour of the PCB’s ACU action because the tribunal had to take a final decision,” Sheghan said. “It meant the PCB now had to justify the allegations made on Sharjeel. The role of the PCB ACU is dubious because there is no accountability and they can discriminate between players at their will.”

Sharjeel was provisionally suspended along with fellow Islamabad United opener Khalid Latif for violating PCB’s anti-corruption code after the opening match of the season against Peshawar Zalmi in February. Off four balls, Sharjeel scored a single, failed to score off two deliveries before getting out.

Khalid, who did not play in the game, was alleged to have orchestrated the deal and both players were also charged for not reporting the matter to the PCB ACU.

“It was said that Umar Amin reported that a bookie, Yousuf, contacted him days before the start of the PSL,” noted Sheghan. “The PCB ACU should’ve given photographs of Yousuf to all players to avoid any encounter with that person as Yousuf had never been established as a bookie till then. It’s all the ACU’s fault.”

He added that the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the National Crime Agency UK had exchanged information with the PCB in this case and Sharjeel’s name had never come up at any stage as the only negotiation took place between Khalid and Nasir Jamshed.

“The ICC also failed to produce the minutes of the meeting which was held at its offices soon after the scandal,” said Sheghan.

Sheghan said that the PCB in the past had settled cases of cricketers who had reported their meetings with bookies after a span of several months yet Sharjeel wasn’t even given 12 hours to do so.

“Sharjeel was trapped by the ACU to save other cricketers,” alleged Sheghan.

Sharjeel, meanwhile, said he was forced by the ACU head Col Azam to confess the crime.

“Col. Azam forced me to confess the crime to face less punishment,” Sharjeel said. “He told me either I do that or I forget about playing cricket again.”

He also denied that he had confessed to any crime in his two interviews with the PCB — one in Dubai and the other in Pakistan.

“In both my interviews, there was no evidence presented that I had accepted any offer or attempted spot-fixing,” Sharjeel informed.

He said he wanted to clear his name even if a decision in his favour by the court wouldn’t necessarily lead to a return to the national side.

“My first priority is to clear the stigma attached to my name,” he said. “I believe that a conspiracy was hatched against me as I didn’t commit any wrongdoing.”

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2017