Bookie reveals Pak players Wahab, Kamran, Umar, Imran also involved in spot-fixing

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s preparations for the World Cup have received a major jolt after Mazhar Majeed, the alleged bookmaker at the centre of the spot-fixing allegations plaguing the national team, revealed names of four more players involved with him in fixing matches.

Pakistani cricketers- Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Wahab Riaz and Imran Farhat- were named in a secretly filmed video aired by Geo News, The Express Tribune reported.

The video comprised Mazhar boasting of connections with these four cricketers, and saying that Pakistan’s One-day International captain Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Younis Khan and a ‘religious’ Saeed Ajmal were not involved in spot-fixing.

Kamran was overlooked for Pakistan’s recently concluded series against South Africa in the UAE and has, together with Farhat, been omitted from the Twenty20 and Test squad for New Zealand that was announced yesterday.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) however has included Umar and Riaz in the squad.

Earlier, a video released by a British Tabloid had forced the International Cricket Council (ICC) to suspend three Pakistani players- Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif.

The PCB has been under immense pressure from the ICC to set its house in order following the earlier allegations. A special ‘task team’ was handed the job of cleaning up Pakistani cricket by devising and implementing anti-corruption measures, including a new code of conduct to be signed by both domestic and national-level players. (ANI)