LAHORE: Opening batsman Sharjeel Khan was handed a five-year ban here on Wednesday by the Anti-Corruption Tribunal of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for his involvement in the spot-fixing scam during the second edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) early this year.

The verdict was annou­n­ced by the tribunal head retired Justice Syed Asghar Haider.

According to the verdict, the ban includes two-and-a-half years of suspended ban which means that if Sharjeel maintains discipline and strictly follows the PCB’s Code of Conduct, he may be allowed to resume cricket after one year and eleven months since his punishment will start from Feb 10, 2017, the day when the PCB stopped him from playing cricket following the scam in Dubai.

Quite surprisingly, the tribunal did not impose any cash penalty on Sharjeel. The two other members of the PCB tribunal, hearing the PSL spot-fixing case, are former PCB chairman retired Lt Gen Tauqir Zia and former Pakistan captain Wasim Bari.

Meanwhile, Sharjeel’s lawyer Sheghan Ijaz said that he would file an appeal against the tribunal’s decision after getting the detailed judgment. He said an independent appellant tribunal would be formed to hear the appeal and the punishment against his client could either be reduced or maintained as a result of the appeal against the verdict. Sheghan the appeal will be filed to reduce the punishment of his client.

On the other hand, PCB’s lawyer Taffazul Rizvi said: “The PCB may consider to file an appeal against this rather mild punishment against Sharjeel after getting a detailed order. But our main success is that all of the charges farmed against the batsman by the PCB and the evidence provided have proved correct.”It may be mentioned here that the spot-fixing charges in the PSL case were framed against five cricketers including Nasir Jamshed, Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif, Shazaib Hassan and pacer Muhammad Irfan. While the cases against Khalid , Nasir and Shahzaib are to yet to be decided,

Irfan, who had confessed before the PCB’s Anti Corruption Unit that the bookies did contact him during the PSL but he had failed to inform the PCB about it, is currently serving a one-year suspension besides having been fined rupees one million as cash penalty. Irfan’s ban could be reduced by six months if he continues to show good conduct.

Meanwhile, PCB chairman Najam Sethi in a statement issued later on Wednesday said: “The Anti-Corruption Tribunal verdict against Sharjeel Khan is a vindication of our policy of zero tolerance against corrupt practices in the game of cricket.

“The PCB Anti-Corruption and Vigilance Department deserves great credit for identifying the culprits and nipping the spot-fixing scandal in the bud through their prompt action. The PCB fully backed the Anti Corruption and Vigilance Department as soon as the plot to corrupt the opening game of the Pakistan Super League 2017 season was unearthed,” he added.

“Both Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif were promptly withdrawn and sent home for their questionable conduct that sullied the game besides tarnishing the spotless reputation of the PSL. The PCB’s legal team worked tirelessly with the Anti Corruption and Vigilance Department over the course of the last six months to bring Sharjeel Khan’s case to it’s logical conclusion.

“PCB hopes that the three remaining players will be dealt with in accordance to the proportionality of their offences,” concluded Sethi.

“The PCB will continue to fight all corrupt elements that attempt to tarnish the game both at the Domestic and International level,” he concluded.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2017