SAEED ANWAR

COLOMBO, July 27: Rashid Latif has done it again. The former Pakistan wicket-keeper denied that he has ever made any charges against opening batsman Saeed Anwar, accusing him of collusion with bookies in match-fixing.Latif sent a fax to Anwar in which he has disowned the quotes attributed to him in Outlook which has tainted Anwar and other Pakistan cricketers.

The July 30 issue of Outlook had carried an article in which Latif is quoted as saying: ``Agar woh de diya to sara kissa khatam ho jayega (if I disclose that, then the whole issue will be scuttled).

I am trying to elicit information from them. I cannot give that,'' Latif is reported to have replied to a query about the ``hot tape that you have which implicates Saeed Anwar, (Salim) Malik and a whole lot of players''.

The fax to Anwar, which seems a hasty measure by Latif to avert getting in to expensive legal tangles, says (and it's quoted verbatim):

``I have been misquoted I have never said this think which appear in out look magazine written by Aniruddha Bahal. Previously I have been said to say something about the indian Players which I never Said its have been a make story.

``I never Said ``Saeed Anwar involved in Betting and Gambling and I dont have any adio cassettee.

Saeed call me on .... (phone number kept out by The Indian Express on the request of the sources) Rashid Latif.''

Latif has sent a fax on almost similar lines to Mohammad Azharuddin giving him and other Indian players like Ajay Jadeja and Venkatapathy Raju a clean chit, stating that he never made any allegations against them to the Outlook magazine.

The Outlook article, which raised a storm in Sri Lanka, has also quoted Saeed Younus -- an agent to Latif and Anwar and other Pakistan cricketers -- as saying: ``You can say he has incriminating evidence against Saeed and Salim.'' Anwar broke his silence when he told The Indian Express: ``I told Saeed (Younus) that I don't care if he is my agent, I will sue him if he does not clear my name of such wild charges. This is the first time my name has figured in such a scandal. I have not only my name but the name of my family to protect.

I cannot keep quiet.'' Though Latif has cleared Anwar, interestingly he has not gone on record to absolve Malik of the charges -- not yet, atleast.

Malik comes across as the principal villain in the Outlook article. Latif, who was the vice-captain of the Pakistan team for the 1995 tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe captained by Malik, is quoted at length about Malik's alleged collusion with bookies in match-fixing. It was in the midst of the twin tours of South Africa and Zimbabwe that Latif and Basit Ali sensationally announced their retirements from international cricket, though both of them came back to play for their country.

Mailk, who was earlier in the centre of the biggest scandals when Australians Shane Warne, Tim May and Mark Waugh alleged that they were approached by Malik with huge amounts to engineer their performances in losing a Test in Pakistan, pleaded his inability to talk to The Indian Express.

``I just cannot say anything. I hope you understand. Aamir (Sohail) opened his mouth to the media and he was suspended by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).'' When told that Anwar has made his statements to this paper on the same topic, Malik said that he will get in touch with the PCB before making his point. However, when contacted later, he said that PCB chief executive Majid Khan has refused him permission to make statements.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.