Javed
Miandad S/o Miandad Noor Mohammed
(Recorded
on 11th November, 1998)
On one
occasion, I was informed that there had been match-fixing but I refused
to believe it. The person concerned put me on telephone conference with
that third player. Two of the players were agreeing and two were not. I
disclosed this fact to Imran Khan immediately on telephone. As a result,
we decided to bet the amount of the runners-up prize on the Pakistan team
in Sharjah. That match was won by us. The manner in which the Pakistan
team played and lost certain matches led me to the conclusion that there
was some truth in the allegation regarding match-fixing and betting. There
are different methods of match-fixing and the players have to give indication
to show that the match has been fixed. In 1992-93 when I was captain, I
was subsequently informed by Idrees, brother of Hanif Kentbury [a book-maker],
that he had bought three of my players, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younus and another
whose name I don't remember. I know Saleem Parvez who has friends who are
involved in gambling. If he (Saleem Parvez) says that he had paid money
to some Pakistani players in Sri Lanka, it must be true. I believe that
the Australian players were telling the truth. In their culture nobody
accuses another without any foundation. I strongly recommend that the culprits
be punished sternly. They should be banned for life and even if we have
to sacrifice the whole team we should do so in order to salvage the country
and the cricket team. I know that in Sri Lanka Saleem Parvez was staying
in the same hotel where the Pakistani team was staying. In one of the matches
in the Australasia cup, Saeed Anwar had retired hurt and amazingly he came
back to bat at No 9. He should have come back much earlier. The modest
total of 162 runs was by no means a difficult target to achieve (in) 50
overs. It is not understandable as to how Pakistan could not achieve the
target. Once Mushtaq Ahmed confided to me that the evil of match-fixing
in the team is going on and once he was also involved. So far as I know,
even the veteran Pakistan team which recently visited India was also involved
in this malpractice. The domestic match to which Imran had referred was
the match in which I was captain of Habib Bank. On the day subsequent to
that match, I was informed that the match was fixed. This information was
given to me by one Afzal of Bisco carpets. He disclosed that five of the
players had been won over. In order to fix a match, it is not essential
that the captain of the team must also be involved. Five key players suffice.
In the said match, Salim Malik and Ijaz Ahmed were also playing for Habib
Bank Limited. The names of the players disclosed to me by Afzal were Salim
Malik, Ijaz Ahmed, Akram Raza, Nadeem Ghori and Naveed Anjum. What I have
heard is that the senior players have been influencing younger players
also in order to persuade them to indulge in match-fixing.
