Basit
Ali S/o Abid Ali
(Recorded
on 19th September, 1998)
I was a
member of the team from '93 to '95. In '94 there was a tournament in Sharjah...
Pakistan came into the final. There was a rest day before the final. At
8 am I received a call from somebody who named himself Raqeeb that if I
got out for less than 10 runs he would pay me Rs 10 lakh. He was speaking
in Urdu. I refused him. He said he will ring me again and I should think
over the matter. I informed Intikhab Alam. We went for practice and then
came back about 1 pm. I received a call from Intikhab that I should come
to his room. At that time Malik was captain. He disclosed he had received
calls from Karachi and Lahore and the Pakistan Board that Pakistan was
going to lose the match. All the players were called and asked to swear
on the holy Quran that none of us is involved in match-fixing. There was
a prize money of $10,000 for the runners-up. When we went to the ground
Alam told us he had bet $10,000 on Pakistan winning the match. We won that
match. I scored 57. When we were in South Africa, I and Moin Khan went
to the reception to collect our keys. Moin Khan asked me whether I knew
a person who was standing there. I said no. Moin Khan said that man was
Hanif Kadburi, renowned bookmaker. He went in the lift to the floor where
our team was staying. Although we tried to see as to whose room he went
in but we could not as he went to the other side. I may state here that
before all the matches we used to put our hands on the Holy Quran and take
the oath that we will play to the best of our ability. Then there was a
team meeting in which Aaquib Javed complained to Intikhab Alam that bookmakers
were coming to rooms of the players and that we should take some steps.
However, Ijaz protested and said he could not be asked not to see old friends.
This led to an altercation between Aaquib Javed and Ijaz and the meeting
had to be dispersed. We played the final in Johannesburg. I did not play
that match as I was dropped. I went to the dressing room after practice
and heard some quarrel going on. While I was entering I met Salim Malik
who was leaving the room. I then saw the whole team leave in different
groups of two or three individuals. I met Intikhab Alam who told me that
there had been a fight between Rashid Latif and Salim Malik. Latif had
asked Salim Malik to take an oath on the Quran before going for the toss.
However, Salim Malik went directly... for the toss. This led to an altercation.
Later on, Ijaz and Waqar joined on the sides of Malik and Rashid respectively.
Akram intervened and stopped the fight. When the team played the match
the captain was not parting with any instructions to anyone. When as the
12th man I went along with the figures to the captain I was asked to go
away as he said he did not require any information. We lost that final.
Later on, Alam said no one will be allowed to leave the dressing room till
such time that there is a conciliation in the whole team. After great efforts
we managed to persuade Malik to reconcile with Rashid. From '92 to '95
our team gave excellent performance but after '96 the performance was very
poor. It is absolutely false that I made some statement before Intikhab
Alam confessing that I indulged in betting or match-fixing. It is also
wrong that I retired because of the betting or match-fixing. As a matter
of fact, circumstances created by the captain and the management were such
that I had no option but to resign. Our team was divided into various groups
after 1995. One comprising Malik, Ijaz, Akram Raza, Ata-ur-Rehman and Akram
and the other of Inzamam, myself, Mushtaq Ahmed and Waqar.
