LAHORE: Former Pakistan captain Salim Malik, who is facing an inquiry initiated by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) allegedly for his suspect role in a transcript received from the ICC, has said that he has prepared his reply to the questions raised in the said inquiry.

Talking to Dawn, Salim said that he had completed his home work with the help of his lawyer and most likely he would submit his reply to the PCB on Monday.

Salim received a questionnaire from the PCB last month comprising almost 50 questions about that inquiry which has been pending since 2011 as per the claim of the PCB. However, Salim has the stance that he never received any document in the past about the said inquiry.

Salim Malik was handed a life ban by the one-man judicial commission of Justice (retd.) Malik Mohammad Qayyum in 2000 after probing betting and gambling allegations on the Pakistan team. Later, though, Salim fought his case in a lower court which lifted the ban in 2008. But the PCB’s doors for Salim have remained closed eversince.

In 2011, the PCB has sent him a transcript, which it claimed it received from the ICC about his role in the suspected meetings held in U.K in 2000. Salim has, however denied that he received any such material from the PCB in 2011.

He has contested that if the PCB had any such material with it, why had it not produced the same in the court when he fought his case against the life ban of eight years, finally winning the verdict in 2008.

Dawn learnt that Salim is quite hopeful about getting a clearance from the PCB’s incumbent body, as many officials who were against him in the previous set-ups are no more attached with the Board.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2020