Aamir
Sohail S/o Shaikh Mohammed Ali
(Recorded
on 8th October, 1998)
I am in
possession of the original affidavit sworn by Ata-ur-Rehman which I produce
before this commission. I made a statement to the press that I was not
afraid of telling the truth and I reiterate that this match-fixing business
was going on and some players who were not indulging in the same like myself,
Ata-ur-Rehman, Aaquib Javed and Rashid Latif were being constantly harassed
by some players and outsiders. During the Singer trophy in Sri Lanka, Saleem
Parvez came to my room and entered into some talk with me. I however told
him that whatever he was planning was not going to happen as far as I was
concerned. When we were going out to bat Saeed Anwar said, 'I have heard
something that the match is fixed therefore, we should bat carefully'.
I enquired the reason. He said we are going to lose. Anwar was batting
very well. A message came from the dressing room through Zahid Fazal, twelfth
man, and immediately Anwar retired, saying he was not feeling well which
came as a surprise to me. During the South Africa tour, Anwar was in good
form and was not making runs. When I and Aaquib Javed were sitting with
him in the hotel, he said he knew he wasn't getting runs because he had
taken money for fixing the match and that it was a curse from God, because
even after taking oath on the Quran, he had taken money.... We told him
that he should pray for forgiveness and pay some 'Kafara'. During the World
Cup ('95), when we landed in Delhi, Akram went to a night-club and it was
on the same day when he was injured. I asked Akram that we should talk
about tour strategy and he should see a physiotherapist. However, the next
day the physiotherapist told me he was looking for Akram who was not available.
Two days before the match I asked Wasim whether he was fit enough to play.
He replied in the affirmative and said that on no occasion was he going
to miss such a crucial match. It was strange that before
such an important match there was no team meeting although generally it
is done before all matches. I again asked Wasim Akram and he told me he
was playing after taking some injections. He never indicated he was not
playing. It was only 5/10 minutes before the toss that I was informed that
Akram was not playing. The morale of the team went down. We had no time
to plan strategy. He told us that time that he had an injury on his ribs
but in the newspaper he stated he had suffered a shoulder injury. Dan Kiesel
told me the injection he gave Akram would keep the pain away even if the
flesh had been cut off. I was further informed by Kiesel that after he
gave the injections to Akram he told me (sic) that the pain had travelled
to another place which looked very strange. Before the Australasia cup
final in '94, I received a call from an Indian book-maker whose name I
do not know that he wanted to see me. As a cricketer I had to be polite
to my fans. Therefore I allowed him. When he came, he offered me Rs 25
lakh for getting out before scoring 10 runs and also getting Saeed Anwar
run out. This offer was spurned by me. I went out for dinner and when I
came back there was a team meeting on in which it appeared that certain
other players had also been offered money. We therefore decided to take
oath on the Quran before the match that each one of us would play to the
best of his abilities. During the second Sahara cup match, Akram was captain.
When we were fielding, he went away for a while and being vice-captain,
I took over. The wicket was taking turn. I employed the fielders around
the batsmen and succeeded in getting two wickets. When Akram came back,
he was very angry and asked me what the hell are you doing. I said 'I am
trying to win the match and have taken two wickets for you'. He was very
angry. I was told by Aaquib Javed that he was offered a car which he refused
but Waqar Younus had taken the car. Rashid Latif was the world's best wicketkeeper
but he was dropped and so was the case with Basit Ali and Ata-ur-Rehman.
Ata-ur-Rehman was judged the best bowler against India in 1994. He was
dropped in the Sri Lanka tour which was astonishing. It was for the first
time during the Christchurch match against New Zealand in '94 that I heard
about match-fixing. Majid Khan was very upset and he banned telephone calls
of all players. It was the same match about which At-ur-Rehman told that
he was paid by Akram to bowl badly. Many strange things
happened during the match. It was a bowler-friendly wicket and the ball
was swinging around and we got out very cheaply and at one time the other
side was 45 runs for three wickets. It was surprising that I was asked
to bowl on that wicket, though it was suited to fast bowlers. In 1994,
I was in very good form and was scoring lots of runs. However, at many
times I was run out mainly due to the call made by other players. In the
second final of the Mandela trophy, I was run out on 71. The other batsman
at the crease was Ijaz Ahmed who had made the call. During the match at
Sharjah, I was not feeling well but Akram asked me to play. I told him
I can open the innings if we bat first and if we have to bat after the
fielding sufficient time had to be given to me to rest... and thereafter
I was promised that I shall be batting at a lower position. Surprisingly,
when we came back from fielding I was ordered to open the innings. I reminded
Akram of his promise but he was adamant. I scored 1/2 runs and got out
because I could not move my foot. This match was against England. There
came a time when we were in a winning position. However, strangely enough
instead of Moin Khan and Azhar Mahmood who were in good form, Akram promoted
himself in the batting order. He however scored 4 runs in 19 deliveries.
Pakistan lost that match by 8 runs. It was the fifth match against England
in the Singer trophy. Adam Hollioake, English captain, came out with the
statement that he was approached by bookmakers for fixing the matches.
Saleem Parvez told me he had paid money to Salim Malik, Mushtaq Ahmed,
Inzamam and Waqar. This disclosure was made by him in the presence of Rashid
Latif. Majid Khan Chief Executive Officer, PCB I produce a written statement
which is duly signed by me and everything contained therein is true and
correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. It is not possible for
one or two players to fix matches without involving others. There are large-scale
rumours which lead me to the conclusion that other members of the team
were also involved. After the Quadrangular matches, I confronted Haroon
Rashid and later Akram. (I told them) their strategy was poor-instead of
sending in-form batsmen at the top order, they sent out-of-form batsmen.
Akram replied he was not aware who was in-form and who was out-of-form
(or) that he was committing any mistake. After the West
Indies series which we won, we went to Sharjah. If we look at the score-sheet
of Sharjah which I produce we will find that the same mistake i.e. sending
out-of-form batsmen at the top order was repeated. In the match against
the West Indies, Akram went to bat ahead of Azhar Mahmood and Moin Khan.
The same was the case in the match against Sri Lanka, which slowed down
the game. I went to Sharjah for a couple of days and confronted Haroon
Rashid with these mistakes. His answer was that if the captain was unwilling
to win the match, what could the coach do? Akram had not played during
the entire summer season due to a shoulder operation. Prior to the tournament
he had played only one Test. Against South Africa in which Azhar Mahmood
had scored lots of runs he had failed. But Akram batted ahead of Azhar.
In my view, those who are found guilty of match-fixing and betting must
be dealt with in a manner which could set an example; those against whom
there are suspicions should be investigated about their assets. We shall
at the board level provide details of the money which was paid to the players
from which we can have a fair idea of their assets and receipts. The eyes
of cricket-playing countries are focused on Pakistan as to how this matter
is being dealt with and that they will also follow suit if need be. We
can be the leaders in this field.
