PSL spot-fixing: Pakistan opener Sharjeel Khan to appeal against five-year ban imposed on him

Karachi: Pakistan’s swashbuckling opener Sharjeel Khan will appeal against the five-year ban imposed on him by the Anti-Corruption Tribunal of the Pakistan Cricket Board before an independent adjudicator, which will be appointed by the board. His lawyer, Shaighan Ejaz told PTI on Wednesday that a decision had been made to file the appeal with an independent adjudicator as allowed under the PCB anti-corruption code. [caption id=“attachment_3991991” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Sharjeel Khan. AFP[/caption] “We have the option of filing the appeal either with the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland or an independent adjudicator of the board and we have decided for the latter option,” he said. Ejaz said once the appeal was filed the board would ask a retired judge of the Supreme or High Courts to hear the appeal independently. The lawyer said that the appeal would be filed within the 14-days time limit given after the full order of the tribunal was released last week. “My client, Sharjeel Khan, is adamant he is innocent and has not committed any spot-fixing in the Pakistan Super League,” Ejaz said. “He does not accept the decision of the tribunal to accept all five charges filed against him by the PCB. He does not want to live with the stigma of being called a spot- fixer,” Ejaz said. The PCB’s tribunal headed by a Lahore High Court judge, Asghar Haider is also due to give its decision on another Pakistani batsman, Khalid Latif in the PSL fixing case before 22 September. Khalid is expected to be given a longer ban different from the one imposed on Sharjeel who has been banned for five years with half of the ban remaining a suspended sentence. Sharjeel and Khalid were both suspended under the anti- corruption code and sent back from the PSL in Dubai last February. In its 60 pages final order, the tribunal listed many reasons for it reaching the conclusion that Sharjeel had committed all five charges brought against him by the PCB. In its final order, the tribunal observed that despite being given anti-corruption lectures, Sharjeel allegedly knowingly met with bookmaker/fixer called Yousuf Anwar at a cafe near Conrad hotel in Dubai on 9 February with Khalid Latif. The order stated that Sharjeel agreed to spot fixing while playing for Islamabad United against Peshawar Zalmi in the first match of the 2nd PSL and the arrangement in lieu of payment was that he would, after the first over when coming on strike, play the first two balls he faced as dot balls and not score runs. The order says as alleged by PCB the signal agreed between Sharjeel and the bookmaker and his accomplice was that Sharjeel would do a stretch (a squat) before facing the balls after the first over to confirm the deal.