Nasir Jamshed will be banned until February 13, 2018
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has banned Pakistan batsman Nasir Jamshed for a year after he was found guilty of not co-operating with their investigation into the Pakistan Super League (PSL) spot-fixing scandal.
Jamshed is the fifth Pakistani player to be banned for their involvement in the scandal after Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif, Mohammad Irfan and Mohammad Nawaz.
However, Jamshed could potentially face more charges as the PCB think he played an instrumental role in the scandal.
“Let me clarify that the charge levelled upon Nasir Jamshed by the PCB so far was simply one of a failure to cooperate,” the PCB’s legal advisor Taffazul Rizvi told reporters. “The PCB has not yet charged Jamshed with spot-fixing. Today, that charge was proved, and the tribunal banned him for one year.”
Jamshed will be banned from all forms of cricket until February 13, 2018, which is exactly one year from when he was first suspended.
While Jamshed is understood to still be under investigation by the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency, his lawyer, Hasan Warraich, feels that the PCB have no concrete evidence against the 28-year-old.
“My client has been defamed nationally and internationally, and the reputation of the country has been damaged by the PCB’s actions,” Warraich said. “And ultimately, nothing comes of it. They kept saying they had multiple proofs against my client, and I challenged them to present those proofs to the media.
“They have consistently failed to do so, and nothing came of the FIA [Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency] report that they referred to.”
However, Rizvi insists that Jamshed failed to co-operate with PCB officials, especially when the board sent some of its members to the UK to meet Jamshed as his passport had been confiscated by the National Crime Agency.
“A narrative is being built that the PCB hasn’t presented any proof against Jamshed,” Rizvi said. “This case was simply a case about Jamshed’s failure to cooperate. No proof has been made public yet so that he doesn’t try to cover his tracks. If he is innocent, then shouldn’t he or his client have explained why his passport has been confiscated by the National Crime Agency in London? Why is he on bail over there?”