The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is again back in the headlines and not for good reasons. After the Umar Akmal ban issue, former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif has come out talking about the scandal he was involved in.
The tainted cricketer says he wasn’t the first nor would be the last to indulge in spot-fixing. Asif was banned for seven years for his role in the 2010 spot-fixing scandal when he bowled deliberate no-balls for money during Pakistan’s tour of England.
The bowler also served jail time in the UK after he was found guilty along with Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt.
Asif, however, added that he should have been treated better by his country’s Cricket Board, which gave “everyone a second chance” except him. The 37-year-old said he should have got a second chance like many others, whom he did not name.
“Everyone makes mistakes and I did too. Players had been indulging in fixing before me and even after me. But those before me are working with PCB and there are few after me still playing,” Asif told ESPNCricinfo.
“Everyone was given a second chance and there are few who never got the same treatment (as me). PCB never tried to save me regardless of the fact that I am the kind of bowler who was highly regarded by everyone in the world.
“But anyway I’m not sitting around brooding about the past or hung up on it,” Asif said he takes pride in the performances he dished out in his limited career.
“However much I played in my career, I made it count, duniya hila ke rakh di thi (I shook up the world). That is more important for me to think about. Even today, so many years later, the best batsmen in the world still remember me and they talk about me.
“Just think how big the impact was that I had on the world. So this is what makes me proud - that there is a reason KP, AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla talk highly about me. That is what makes me happy.”
The fast-bowler had also failed a dope test in 2006. He served a one-year suspension for it and admitted he “should have behaved better off the field”.
“That is where I had issues. I want to give the kids this message that when you cross the boundary line into the field, your ambition should be to do well for yourself and for your team.” “I was selfish as a bowler because I wanted to take wickets, and that was to help the team win. Being selfish isn’t bad if you’re playing your part for the team,” he said.
Talking about Amir, Asif said he did not like the fact that the bowler retired from Test cricket at the age of 27. He said that Amir let PCB down with his decision since the Board helped him a lot in his difficult time.
“I curse the PCB for how they rescued his career. But it was his obligation to help Pakistan cricket in a tough situation and he should have stayed, especially when they had helped him return.”
“...If they (the PCB) had done the same with me, then I’d still be available to rescue Pakistan in Test cricket for the next two years. I know there are fitness standards, but I can work that out and whatever is required I can do it.”
