Former captain Saleem Malik says the board informed him through email that his response to the allegations was incorrect.
LAHORE: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-July 11th, 2020) Former captain Saleem Malik came down hard upon Pakistan cricket Board (PCB) by calling board’s release of confessional letter as ridiculous here on Saturday.
Saleem Malik said that the board informed him through email that his response to the allegations was incorrect. He expressed anger by saying that there were few mistakes in the reply that must be corrected.
Pakistan Cricket Board had earlier responded to Saleem Malik that he should approach ICC and explain it as to why he had held meeting with corrupt elements in England in April 2000. The board asked him to respond to the transcripts provided by ICC.
In 2008, Saleem Malik was cleared of the charges. However, the board charged him again when it received a transcript from ICC where in his objectionable conversation came to record. According to the reports, conversation was said to have taken place in the UK in 2000.
PCB declared the answer of Saleem Malik as unsatisfactory and advised him to give a proper reply to the said charges if he claimed that he was innocent, though, Mr. Malik had already responded to the fresh charges in his reply which he sent to the board last month.
Saleem said last month he had replied to the above charge but now the PCB had come again with a new thing, quoting his apology he had tendered in 2014, just to get himself cleared.
Saleem Malik said that he was already preparing a second reply to the transcript when PCB brought 2014 matter on the scene. "I approached the PCB in the end of 2013, not in 2014", he clarified.
“I met then PCB chairman Najam Sethi, then COO Subhan Ahmed and PCB lawyer Taffazul Rizvi. The COO and the lawyer advised me to tender an apology and they will try to get me cleared from the pending inquiry on the ICC transcript.”
It may be mentioned here that Malik was banned by the PCB on the recommendation of the famous Justice Qayyum report. Years later, he had managed to get the ban overturned by a local court. However, he has still remained a persona non grata at the PCB due to his refusal to respond to the aforesaid transcripts.
“Sir, after consultations and on my free will, I have reached a decision that I am ready to accept my wrongdoing, apologize to the fans and want to start by rehabilitation process. I fully understand the consequence of my decision and am ready to cooperate to every extent with ICC and PCB for my rehabilitation program. I would request PCB to talk to ICC if required and start my rehabilitation programme at the earliest,” the PCB quoted Malik as saying in his letter.
Malik, who had earlier this year threatened to sue anyone who called him a match-fixer, was reminded by the PCB that he himself had, in a letter written in May 2014 to the then PCB chairperson, admitted his guilt.
