Pakistani captain pleaded- lose or else our houses will be burnt, then gave an offer of match fixing

New Delhi. There is an upheaval in Pakistan cricket after the defeat of Bangladesh. Shan Masood’s captaincy is in danger and questions are being raised on the place of many players in the team. But this is not the first time that there has been an uproar in Pakistan due to defeat. Pak cricketers have also been attacked after defeat. Houses have been burnt. One reason for this is that many Pakistani cricketers have been involved in match fixing. Due to this people never have full faith in their team. Only a few years have passed when the Pakistani captain was pleading with the players of the opposing team to avoid defeat. When things did not work out, he/she immediately offered to fix the match. Later this captain Salim Malik was banned for life.

Shane Warne had explained in detail about Salim Malik’s offer of match fixing. In a special show on ‘Hotstar’, Shane Warne said, ‘This was my first tour of Pakistan. I took 5 wickets in the first innings. We were confident that we would defeat Pakistan easily. I was Tim May’s room partner in those days. We were in the room when suddenly the phone rang. I picked up the phone. On the other side was Pakistani captain Salim Malik. he/she said that he/she wanted to meet me. After a while the doorbell rang. Now Salim Malik was standing in front.’

If we lose, our houses will be burnt down
Former Australian leg spinner Shane Warne says, ‘Salim Malik came to the room and said that the match is going well. I said – yes, and we are going to win. We will win the match tomorrow. On this Malik said – but we cannot lose this match. I asked – how. You have to score a lot of runs and the pitch is turning. How will you score so many runs. Malik said – you are not understanding what I am saying. I mean that we cannot lose this match. If we lose, our houses will be burnt. Our family will be in trouble. On this I said that I sympathize with you, but this will not change the result.’

Offer: Bowl a wide ball and get money in return
Shane Warne then mentions the conversation which is called the match fixing offer. According to Warne, ‘Salim Malik said – I can give you and Tim May 2,000 dollars each right now. For this, you will have to bowl wide balls tomorrow. You will not try to take wickets so that this match ends in a draw. I was stunned to hear Malik’s words. I could not understand what to say or do.’

Told the whole thing to the captain-coach
According to Shane Warne, ‘Salim Malik left after this conversation. Then we talked amongst ourselves. Tim said that we should tell this to captain Mark Taylor. We went to Mark Taylor. Told him/her the whole thing. Then we went to Bob Simpson (coach) with Mark Taylor. Then we went to match referee John Reid with Mark Taylor and Bob Simpson.’

The winning run was scored on Shane Warne’s ball
Overall, this match proved to be very close. The last moments of the match were going on. Pakistan needed 3 runs to win and had 9 wickets left. The ball was in Shane Warne’s hands. he/she bowled a good ball, which Inzamam-ul-Haq tried to play at midwicket by moving ahead of the crease. The ball was a little low and Inzamam missed it. Wicketkeeper Ian Healy also could not catch it and the ball hit his/her pad and went across the boundary. Pakistan won the match.

I did my job, Malik was banned
Shane Warne says, ‘I got the Player of the Match award, but the match was going on in my mind. I couldn’t believe that we had lost the match. I looked at the Pakistan team and Salim Malik had a strange smile on his/her face. Well, I think I did my job. This case went to court and Salim Malik was banned for life.’ Salim Malik was found guilty in not one but many cases. Rashid Latif of Pakistan had also made similar allegations against Malik.

Pakistan’s closest win
Let us tell you that in the match mentioned by Shane Warne, Australia had scored 337 runs in the first innings and 232 runs in the second innings. David Boon had scored a century in the second innings. Pakistan had scored 257 runs in the first innings. It had got a target of 314 runs to win. Pakistan achieved this target by losing 9 wickets. This is Pakistan’s closest victory over Australia.

tag: match fixing, pakistan cricket, pakistan cricket team, shane warne