Was playing against 22 men: Shoaib Akhtar recalls match-fixing days

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Was playing against 22 men: Shoaib Akhtar recalls match-fixing days
Was playing against 22 men: Shoaib Akhtar recalls match-fixing days

New Delhi : There was a time when match fixing had gripped the Pakistan team and had left it in a bad state. Former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar has now made startling revelations in an interview claiming that he was playing against 22 men - the opposition and also his own teammates.

The match-fixing scandal had happened in August 2010 during Pakistan’s tour of England and then captain Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were sanctioned by the ICC for their involvement.

“I was always of the belief that I can never cheat Pakistan, no match-fixing. I was surrounded by match-fixers,” Akhtar said on the show Rewind With Samina Peerzada. “I was playing against 22 people (sic)— 11 theirs and 10 ours. Who knows who was the match-fixer. There was so much match fixing. (Mohammad) Asif told me which all matches they had fixed and how they did it.”

“I tried to make Amir and Asif understand. What a waste of talent. When I heard about this, I was so upset that I punched the wall. Pakistan’s two top bowlers, smart, intelligent and the two perfect fast bowlers were wasted. They sold themselves for a little money,” he added.

ICC had banned Butt, Asif and Amir for five years after finding them guilty in the matter.