Salim Malik, the former Pakistan captain embroiled in the match-fixing scandal of 2000, has at long last agreed to cooperate with the ICC and PCB, and reveal all the information surrounding one of the sorry episodes in the sport’s history.
Malik was banned for life for his role in the 2000 controversy, but he recently pleaded for his ban to be dropped, in the way the bans of Mohammad Amir and Sharjeel Khan were in the last decade. Malik had his ban overturned by a lower court in Pakistan, but the PCB continued to keep him out of the fold.
Now, in a video message, he has apologised for his actions and agreed to reveal all the secrets surrounding the scandal. “I am very sorry for what I have done way back 19 years ago,” he said in a video message, according to Pakistan daily The Nation. “I am ready to extend unconditional cooperation to the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in this regard.”
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Malik has played 103 Tests and 283 ODIs for Pakistan, and is considered one of the finest batsmen to emerge from the nation. He had applied for a position as a coach at Pakistan’s National Cricket Academy in 2010-11, following the overturn of his ban by the lower court. But the PCB rejected his application.
“Purely on human rights ground,” Malik was quoted as saying by PTI, “I think I also deserve a second chance to earn my livelihood from cricket, which has always been my bread and butter.”
