KARACHI, February 6: Wasim Akram, the deposed Pakistan cricket team captain, has said that he will meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a bid to clear his name and be reinstated in the national squad.But a report in The News, Pakistan's leading English language daily, says that he has been refused an audience with Mr Sharif, who recently took over as patron of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
Akram, it may be recalled, has been sidelined by the Pakistan Cricket Board following allegations of match fixing.
Akram's troubles mounted when fast bowler Ata-ur-Rehman, in a signed affidavit a few days back, stated that he was paid Rs 1,00,000 by Akram for bowling badly in a match during Pak's 94 tour of New Zealand.
In his defence, Akram said: "You should note that these allegations are only made by players who have been dropped. (Rashid Latif, Basit Ali, Aamir Sohail and Ata-ur-Rehman). Why didn't they say this when they were in the team ?"
Akram claims that dropped players make up these controversiesto get back into the national side. He added that the ploy has worked in the case of Rashid Latif, who was brought in and made the team captain after he and Basit Ali left the team during the 1995 on tour of South Africa. "If they have any evidence, they should present it and end the whole thing once and for all," said Akram.
A leading national magazine, The Herald, reports that one of the greatest influences in Akram's personal life has been his elder brother Nadeem. Akram socialised a lot with Nadeem's friends, which included Javed Chotani, a bookie.
Nadeem enjoys the reputation of a gangster, reports The Herald, and allegedly runs a betting operation from his ancestral mohalla, Mozang, in Lahore.
Having earned his spurs in a notorious student union -- The Black Eagles --in the mid-80's, Nadeem was implicated in the murder of an Iranian man in Lahore's Liberty market. After this incident, Nadeem left Pakistan and only returned a few years back. He now owns a car showroom at JailRoad, worth over ten million rupees, say observers, who add that Nadeem is the man who has linked Wasim to the bookies.
Mum is the word for the PCB. "I will say nothing," says PCB chief Majid Khan.
Former Test off-spinner Tauseef Ahmed feels the onus remains on the PCB to come out with evidence to put an end to the controversy. Newspaper reports suggest that betting has become big business in Pakistan, with the Karachi Stock Exchange as the centre.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
