KARACHI : The ICC might have confirmed that the tainted trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir can return to cricket after the expire of their bans, but a divided house seems to have emerged in Pakistani cricket fraternity over whether they should be allowed to represent the national team again.
Airing his views on the issue, former skipper Rashid Latif said he is totally against any such move.
“I will not support their comeback to international cricket simply because they will replace someone who might not be as talented as them but has done nothing ethnically or morally wrong and had not indulged in corruption,” Latif told.
“This is the biggest injustice you can do to players who play clean cricket.”
It is not just Latif who is against trio’s return others have also urged the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to just allow them to play domestic cricket.
“The way I look at this situation it is very wrong for that person to play again for Pakistan who has been involved in corruption and cheating. It is not right for those players who have played by the rules,” Latif said.
Latif was the whistleblower on the corruption prevailing in the Pakistan team in the 90s which led to several match fixing inquiries and eventually the Justice Malik Qayyum report which recommended a life ban on Salim Malik and Ata ur Rehman and fines for five other players for not cooperating in the judicial inquiry.
Two of them Waqar Younis and Mushtaq Ahmed are presently well paid coaches in the Pakistan team.
Former Pakistan Test opener Mohsin Khan, who served as chief selector and head coach three years back, was also against the trio’s comeback in the Pakistan team.
“These players might have served their punishment but to me it is a huge crime selling or fixing a game involving your country and once you do that you don’t deserve a second chance,” Mohsin said.
“I belong to the old school of thought and to me it seems very difficult to accommodate or integrate these players back into the national side,” he added.
Former Test opener Bazid Khan said what the trio had done was probably the worst thing one could do with cricket and country. (AGENCIES)
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