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Pakistan team in fresh match-fixing controversy

Bangalore, Mon, Oct 05 2009

The Pakistan team is in yet another match-fixing controversy.

The Pakistan team is in yet another match-fixing controversy.[© AFP]In a fresh twist to Pakistan's exit from the Champions Trophy, claims have emerged that two of the matches that the team lost - to Australia in the league phase and to New Zealand in the semi-finals - were fixed.According to a report in the Ahmedabad Mirror, the International Cricket Council's (ICC) anti-corruption unit would be having a good look at the Pakistan vs New Zealand match of October 3.The report further states that although Pakistan displayed their usual up-and-down level of play by batting indifferently and missing chances in the field, the worrying aspect of this defeat was that a large number of Asian origin fans in the stands were placing bets on a New Zealand victory.Captain Younis Khan's dropped catch off Grant Elliot that proved to be match-turning, is particularly coming under the scanner.Younis had admitted that his fractured finger was the reason the catch was dropped, but he said he wasn't worried about anything - perhaps hinting at the fact that reactions in his home country have always been extreme.However, though the paper said that officials are guarded in their reaction at this stage, the tapes of the Pakistan-New Zealand semi-final match are on their way to the anti-corruption unit offices.In a separate report, the Chairman of the Sports Committee of the Pakistan National Assembly, Jamshed Ahmed Dasti, has alleged that the Pakistan team deliberately lost the game to Australia to knock India out of the Champions Trophy. According to a reports in CNN-IBN, Dasti told Pakistan TV channel Geo TV that, "We went with a pre-determined mind to lose the match against Australia. Our intention was to keep India out. It was a deliberate decision to lose the match against India."Dasti has not provided any evidence to back these claims, but has reportedly summoned the team management including the captain and the coach to discuss the matter.