Two more cricketers suspected in Asif Afridi's case

The germs of corruption in Pakistan cricket have started to rise again as Asif Afridi was provisionally suspended under Article 4.7.1** of the PCB Anti-Corruption Code.

Asif Afridi has been issued a Notice of Charge for two breaches under Article 2.4 of the Code and has fourteen (14) days to respond to the charges.

The spinner had admitted the mistake and won't be able to participate in any form of cricket until the investigation is completed.

According to sources, the case is quite complicated and two more cricketers are also suspected.

Asif Afridi was already in trouble before the National T20 Cup and he confessed to the mistake in front of the PCB Anti-Corruption Unit but avoided suspension. The authorities believe that he can not do everything alone and it is important to keep an eye on who is involved.

Asif Afridi represented Rawalakot Hawks in the second season of Kashmir Premier League (KPL) last month. For the event, PCB had sent anti-corruption unit officials Lt. Col. (Rtd) Imran and Lt. Col. (Rtd) Usman to Muzaffarabad.

Lt Col (Rtd) Shaheen was with Rawalkot Hawks and Mirpur Royals, Lt Col (Rtd) Shahid Alam was with Muzaffarabad Tigers and Jammu Janbaz, Lt Col Jahanzeb was with Overseas Warriors and Major (Rtd) Raza waswith Kotli Lions and Bagh Stallions. KPL's anti-corruption manager was Lt. Col. Obaidullah. Even before the KPL, the organizers were worried about the spinner.

The organizers were already worried about the spinner. When PCB was approached, they got the reply that Asif had not been stopped from playing to get to the root of the case.

The spinner gave away 35 runs in three overs and took one wicket in the -affected first match against Jammu Janbaz. Before the start of the match against Kotli Lions, instructions were issued to monitor him, in which Rawalkot lost by ten wickets. Asif was clean bowled on the first ball while batting at number three, conceding 52 runs in four overs.

After the match, the organizers of the event had a detailed discussion with the officer of the PCB Anti-Corruption Unit; suspicions are being expressed on two more cricketers, surprisingly.

Asif Afridi was included in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa team for the National T20 Cup as well, which was objected to by some quarters.

Against Central Punjab, he took two wickets for 24 runs and didn't play in the tournament again. 

Doubts were raised on some officials of a team in KPL and action was taken against them.

It must be noted that Asif Afridi was included in the squad for the home series against Australia, but he did not get a chance to participate in any match. In this year's PSL, he took eight wickets in five matches for Multan Sultans. 

In KPL, Rawalakot was led by Ahmed Shehzad. Mohammad Amir, international cricketer Hussain Talat, including Imad Butt, Hammad Azam, Babar Akhlaq, Bismillah Khan, Faisal Akram, Ehsanullah, Khawaja M. Bilal, Mussadiq Ahmed, Raja Farhan Khan , Rohan Qadri, Rohail Nazir, Saeedullah, Sameen Gul, Sohail Akhtar, Zaman Khan and Zeeshan Malik were also part of the squad. Arshad Khan was the head coach of the team.

When contacted regarding the case, the PCB spokesperson said that since the case investigation is still going on, they cannot comment, KPL also refrained from responding. 

Remember, during the last few years, Umar Akmal, Muhammad Irfan, Muhammad Nawaz, Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif, Shahzaib Hasan have faced punishments from the PCB for violating the anti-corruption code.