Pakistan’s cricket chief on Thursday denied recent match-fixing allegations leveled against the national team, defending the players after their Champions Trophy defeat.
Pakistan’s loss to Australia in a Champions Trophy group match and their defeat at the hands of New Zealand in the semi-final last week sparked allegations from a senator that the team threw the matches.
Jamshed Dasti, chairman of the Senate’s standing committee on sports, summoned team captain Younus Khan and coach Intikhab Alam to explain the reasons for the disappointing knock-out in South Africa.
ANGRY DEFENSE
Although Dasti later backed down from his accusations, Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt angrily defended the players.
“The senator has a right to criticize the working of the Board but he should not have criticized the team, which did very well in the Champions Trophy. There is no proof of fixing,” Butt told reporters.
“Indian media first leveled such allegations last week... all such things are baseless,” Butt said.
Pakistan was at the top of their group when they lost to Australia on Wednesday, which had no bearing on their progression to the semi finals.
But if Pakistan had won against Australia, India would have had a shot at making it though to the semi-finals on points. Pakistan’s defeat ensured their arch-rivals were knocked out of the tournament.
The International Cricket Council also rubbished the latest allegations of match-fixing, saying they were not worth investigating. Butt said he was satisfied with the team’s performance in the Trophy.
“This is cricket, and we are ready to explain the team’s performance in the Senate,” Butt said of the meeting scheduled for Tuesday.
Australia successfully defended their Champions Trophy title, beating New Zealand in the final by six wickets on Monday.
HOLLAND ON SQUAD
In related news, Young spinner Jon Holland was the surprise selection on Friday in an injury-hit Australian squad for their seven ODI series starting in Vadodara, South Africa, on Oct. 25.
The 22-year-old left-arm finger spinner from Victoria impressed playing for Australia A in their recent home series against Pakistan as well as his time at Cricket Australia’s Centre of Excellence, chief selector Andrew Hilditch said.
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