LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday said it had seized bat grips given to Khalid Latif by a bookmaker which the Islamabad United opener was allegedly supposed to use to indicate he would participate in a spot-fix.

The 31-year-old batsman stands accused of attempting to spot-fix, accepting an offer by a bookmaker which he did not report, and luring other players into the conspiracy.

His case is currently being heard by a three-member tribunal convened to adjudicate on the scandal which emerged during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in the UAE in February-March.

Fast bowler Mohammad Irfan and spinner Mohammad Nawaz have already been banned for six months with six suspended, and one month with one suspended, respectively and fined after they confessed to failing to report meetings with bookmakers.

Khalid and three other players -- Sharjeel Khan, Shahzaib Hasan and Nasir Jamshed -- are also provisionally suspended on various charges and face bans ranging from five years to life if found guilty.

“One [piece] of ... evidence is that we seized the bat grips that [a] bookie had given and they were seized from Khalid’s kit bag,” PCB lawyer Taffazul Rizvi told reporters.

Khalid’s lawyer Badar Alam, meanwhile, contested the neutrality of the tribunal on the grou­nds that one of its members was a former PCB chief.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2017