ISLAMABAD: Former speedster Shoaib Akhtar has said that he had warned pacer Mohammad Amir back in 2010 to avoid meeting bookies who might lure him to match fixing.
Shoaib said match fixing was at its peak in 1996. He, however, always stayed away from fixers and cautioned others to do so as well and play with integrity and sincerity, he claimed.
“I had also warned Amir back in 2010 to avoid meeting people who could lure players to match fixing,” he said while speaking in a news channel morning show.
Talking about the ongoing Day/Night Test in Dubai, he said Pakistan might win the match, but batsmen’s performance was not upto the mark.
Pakistan, after scoring 579-3-declared in the first innings, crumbled to 123 all out on Sunday, succumbing to leg-spinner Bishoo’s stellar performance with the ball. The Windies bowler claimed his career-best 8 for 49.
Shoaib said the batsmen batted poorly but there is still a good chance the ball will be in Pakistan’s court when the final day of the Test kicks off. “There is a 70% chance we will win the match,” he said.
The `Rawalpindi Express’ however expressed some reservations over the novel pink ball and said that the cricket officials should consider a number of factors before deciding to schedule a D/N Test, such as the local weather and pitch conditions.
About the war of words and then patch-up between former skippers Javed Miandad and Shahid Afridi, Shoaib said he had intervened and asked Miandad to resolve the matter with talks.
He said he had also advised Afridi to refrain from sending a legal notice to the veteran cricketer because it would have done no good to open the Pandora’s Box. “It would also have tarnished Pakistan cricket’s image worldwide,” he said.
