Wahab Riaz returns for the fifth ODI. —Photo by AFP

LONDON: The ICC may now initiate fresh investigations against Pakistani players Kamran Akmal and Wahab Riaz following the conviction of their team-mates Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif in the spot-fixing scandal, a newspaper report said.

According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, the guilty verdicts handed out to Salman and Asif by the Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday, could form the basis of a fresh anti-corruption probe against wicket-keeper Kamran and left-arm pacer Wahab, whose names appeared during the entire controversy.

“The International Cricket Council will examine closely evidence gathered by police officers in London who investigated the fixing case involving three Pakistan cricketers,” the report claimed.

“Both (Kamran and Wahab) were mentioned on several occasions during the case, linked to scams organised by Mazhar Majeed.

Akmal’s name also crops up in correspondence between the agent and his fixing contacts around the world in evidence collated by police from earlier stages of the tour,” it read.

The report also read that during the hearing, Aftab Jafferjee, QC for the prosecution, said the roles of “Wahab Riaz and Kamran Akmal raise deep, deep suspicions.”

Interestingly, Kamran and Wahab were among the seven Pakistani cricketers whose names appeared on recordings during the conversation between alleged bookie Majeed and the undercover reporter of the News of the World, which broke the scandal.—Agencies

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