Abdullah719
T20I Captain
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2013
- Runs
- 44,825
In his latest article for FirstPost Sports, Saj discusses how the reputation of Pakistan cricket will need to be rebuilt once again after Sharjeel Khan was handed a five-year ban on spot-fixing charges.
Left-handed batsmen have always held a special place in the psyche of Pakistan cricket supporters.
The late Wasim Raja set the stage for this Pakistani fascination with southpaws with his carefree and swashbuckling style of play which would see him stand-up to any bowling attack in the world. A few years later, Saeed Anwar arrived on the scene with his record-breaking 194 against arch-rivals India and raised the bar for left-handed batsmen. While Aamir Sohail did manage to carry the torch with his own unique style of aggression, southpaws Salman Butt and Nasir Jamshed came and went, and the cupboard for left-handed batsmen remained bare for a good few years until early 2016.
In the 3rd qualifying final of the Pakistan Super League’s first edition in 2016, the Islamabad United opener, Sharjeel Khan walked in and put on a destructive display of batting where he scored 117 off just 62 balls to take his team to the final of the tournament. The innings was of such ferocity and aggression that it left no doubt in most fans’ minds that Pakistan were seeing the start of something special with comparisons with Saeed Anwar already starting to flow amongst the fans and media. For Sharjeel, that PSL game against Peshawar Zalmi was a huge break which would catapult his international career that seemed to be in the doldrums to new heights.
Until that evening in Dubai on 21 February, 2016, Sharjeel was a mere name in many minds; one of many who were picked by Pakistan selectors more in hope than conviction to provide that solid opening partnership which could take games away from the opposition. Of course, he had the flair and he could play those shots all lovers of the game expected from a left-hander, but the results were not forthcoming at first. All that changed in February of 2016 and many years after Anwar’s departure from the scene, Pakistan cricket appeared to have discovered a top-order player whom the opposition would fear.
Sharjeel’s reputation at the top of the batting order was starting to build-up nicely as he continued improving in 2016 through the Asia Cup and then further demonstrated his hitting power in the World Twenty20. If there was proof needed of his ability, it was put to the test during Pakistan’s tour of England in 2016 where in the only Twenty20 International, he and Khalid Latif put on a display of aggressive batting that left many in no doubt about the potential of the batsman from Hyderabad.
And just like the dark days of 2010, when Pakistan seemed to have found a young left-arm fast-bowling genius who had the world at his feet and subsequently 'lost' him for five years. Pakistan’s newest rising star Sharjeel went the same horrible way. Fresh from the tour of Australia where his last ODI scores read 50, 74 and 79, Sharjeel began the 2017 PSL campaign for Islamabad United with a lacklustre innings of 1 against Peshawar Zalmi. In itself, it appeared to be an innings to forget but what followed next was something that shook Pakistan cricket to its foundations.
Suspected of spot-fixing during this game, Sharjeel was sent home from the UAE by the PCB and suspended from the game indefinitely pending a resolution of the investigation. In the days that followed, more shocking revelations of involvement of Pakistan players in the seedy world of bookies and corruption were revealed. The seven years of rehabilitation for Pakistan cricket appeared to have come to naught as name after name was mentioned in the investigation.
The reputation of Pakistan cricket once again lay in tatters and the PCB, now caught between a rock and a hard place, had no options but to pursue the suspects with all the legal means at its disposal.
It took almost seven months of protracted legal wrangling but PCB’s anti-corruption tribunal delivered its verdict on 30 August to ban Sharjeel for at least two-and-a-half years with a lengthier five-year ban a distinct possibility if he did not cooperate with PCB’s anti-corruption campaigns.
It had happened before in Pakistan cricket and incredible as it seemed, a career that promised so much was once again sacrificed for short-term greed by an individual. The overwhelming evidence brought to the table by the PCB left the tribunal with not many options but to punish Sharjeel. The PCB legal team may well press for a tougher penalty against the left-hander in the coming days and Sharjeel's career in cricket is now on hold.
There aren't many who will doubt that the firepower that Sharjeel brought to bear at the top of the innings would have made him the envy of many teams and more importantly, provided him great opportunities to earn a legal living.
What drove him to take a route that had been proven to be full of pitfalls is beyond comprehension. How a player with such immense talent could not put a value on his own future earning power is beyond belief. How could a man who had made his way into the Pakistan team in all three formats, had signed a County contract with Leicestershire and would have been a top pick for T20 leagues around the world throw it all away is totally mystifying.
Regardless of his own failings, the damage he and the other accused have done to the reputation of Pakistan cricket cannot be fully estimated. From a purely cricketing point of view, one can only wonder what a Pakistan opening pair consisting of Sharjeel and a Champions Trophy winner like Fakhar Zaman would have done to the opposition’s morale. With the world at his feet, Sharjeel had the chance to etch his name in the hall of fame of Pakistan players, but sadly this is not to be.
The PCB may well have earned kudos for a job well done in exposing corruption but in Sharjeel’s misdemeanours, Pakistan cricket has lost a great opportunity to show the world that the dark days of the past were just an aberration. Sadly, the work to rebuild the reputation of Pakistan cricket begins once again.
http://www.firstpost.com/firstcrick...reputation-suffers-major-setback-3991971.html
Left-handed batsmen have always held a special place in the psyche of Pakistan cricket supporters.
The late Wasim Raja set the stage for this Pakistani fascination with southpaws with his carefree and swashbuckling style of play which would see him stand-up to any bowling attack in the world. A few years later, Saeed Anwar arrived on the scene with his record-breaking 194 against arch-rivals India and raised the bar for left-handed batsmen. While Aamir Sohail did manage to carry the torch with his own unique style of aggression, southpaws Salman Butt and Nasir Jamshed came and went, and the cupboard for left-handed batsmen remained bare for a good few years until early 2016.
In the 3rd qualifying final of the Pakistan Super League’s first edition in 2016, the Islamabad United opener, Sharjeel Khan walked in and put on a destructive display of batting where he scored 117 off just 62 balls to take his team to the final of the tournament. The innings was of such ferocity and aggression that it left no doubt in most fans’ minds that Pakistan were seeing the start of something special with comparisons with Saeed Anwar already starting to flow amongst the fans and media. For Sharjeel, that PSL game against Peshawar Zalmi was a huge break which would catapult his international career that seemed to be in the doldrums to new heights.
Until that evening in Dubai on 21 February, 2016, Sharjeel was a mere name in many minds; one of many who were picked by Pakistan selectors more in hope than conviction to provide that solid opening partnership which could take games away from the opposition. Of course, he had the flair and he could play those shots all lovers of the game expected from a left-hander, but the results were not forthcoming at first. All that changed in February of 2016 and many years after Anwar’s departure from the scene, Pakistan cricket appeared to have discovered a top-order player whom the opposition would fear.
Sharjeel’s reputation at the top of the batting order was starting to build-up nicely as he continued improving in 2016 through the Asia Cup and then further demonstrated his hitting power in the World Twenty20. If there was proof needed of his ability, it was put to the test during Pakistan’s tour of England in 2016 where in the only Twenty20 International, he and Khalid Latif put on a display of aggressive batting that left many in no doubt about the potential of the batsman from Hyderabad.
And just like the dark days of 2010, when Pakistan seemed to have found a young left-arm fast-bowling genius who had the world at his feet and subsequently 'lost' him for five years. Pakistan’s newest rising star Sharjeel went the same horrible way. Fresh from the tour of Australia where his last ODI scores read 50, 74 and 79, Sharjeel began the 2017 PSL campaign for Islamabad United with a lacklustre innings of 1 against Peshawar Zalmi. In itself, it appeared to be an innings to forget but what followed next was something that shook Pakistan cricket to its foundations.
Suspected of spot-fixing during this game, Sharjeel was sent home from the UAE by the PCB and suspended from the game indefinitely pending a resolution of the investigation. In the days that followed, more shocking revelations of involvement of Pakistan players in the seedy world of bookies and corruption were revealed. The seven years of rehabilitation for Pakistan cricket appeared to have come to naught as name after name was mentioned in the investigation.
The reputation of Pakistan cricket once again lay in tatters and the PCB, now caught between a rock and a hard place, had no options but to pursue the suspects with all the legal means at its disposal.
It took almost seven months of protracted legal wrangling but PCB’s anti-corruption tribunal delivered its verdict on 30 August to ban Sharjeel for at least two-and-a-half years with a lengthier five-year ban a distinct possibility if he did not cooperate with PCB’s anti-corruption campaigns.
It had happened before in Pakistan cricket and incredible as it seemed, a career that promised so much was once again sacrificed for short-term greed by an individual. The overwhelming evidence brought to the table by the PCB left the tribunal with not many options but to punish Sharjeel. The PCB legal team may well press for a tougher penalty against the left-hander in the coming days and Sharjeel's career in cricket is now on hold.
There aren't many who will doubt that the firepower that Sharjeel brought to bear at the top of the innings would have made him the envy of many teams and more importantly, provided him great opportunities to earn a legal living.
What drove him to take a route that had been proven to be full of pitfalls is beyond comprehension. How a player with such immense talent could not put a value on his own future earning power is beyond belief. How could a man who had made his way into the Pakistan team in all three formats, had signed a County contract with Leicestershire and would have been a top pick for T20 leagues around the world throw it all away is totally mystifying.
Regardless of his own failings, the damage he and the other accused have done to the reputation of Pakistan cricket cannot be fully estimated. From a purely cricketing point of view, one can only wonder what a Pakistan opening pair consisting of Sharjeel and a Champions Trophy winner like Fakhar Zaman would have done to the opposition’s morale. With the world at his feet, Sharjeel had the chance to etch his name in the hall of fame of Pakistan players, but sadly this is not to be.
The PCB may well have earned kudos for a job well done in exposing corruption but in Sharjeel’s misdemeanours, Pakistan cricket has lost a great opportunity to show the world that the dark days of the past were just an aberration. Sadly, the work to rebuild the reputation of Pakistan cricket begins once again.
http://www.firstpost.com/firstcrick...reputation-suffers-major-setback-3991971.html
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