LAHORE, Oct 14: Fast Bowler Waqar Younis told a judge probing charges of betting and match-fixing in Pakistan cricket that two Test players retired from the game because they were convinced matches were rigged.``Younis admitted that Rashid Latif and Basit Ali retired from international cricket (in 1994-95 in South Africa after they had a clash with Salim Malik on match-fixing,'' Ali Sibtain Fazli, the lawyer for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) quoted Younis as telling judicial commission head Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum.
``Rashid and Basit were convinced Malik had sold out to the bookies,'' he quoted Younis as saying in his testimony.
Latif was Malik's vice-captain on the tour and had announced his retirement along with Basit in Johannesburg. They reversed their decision three months later.
An interim report released by the PCB recommended that Malik, Ijaz Ahmed and Wasim Akram should not be selected until the investigations were completed.
The trio has been named in the Pakistan team for thesecond Test starting at Peshawar tomorrow.
Teams (Australia) from: Mark Taylor (captain), Michael Slater, Steve Waugh, Mark Waugh, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting, Ian Healy, Michael Kasprowicz, Glenn McGrath, Stuart MacGill, Collin Miller, Damien Fleming.
Pakistan (from): Aamir Sohail (captain), Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul haq, Ijaz Ahmed, Salim Malik, Yousuf Youhanna, Azhar Mahmood, Wasim Akram, Moin Khan, Arshad Khan, Shahid Afridi, Mushtaq Ahmed, Shoaib Akhtar, Muhammad Zahid, Muhammad Naveed, Shakeel Ahmed.
Umpires: Nazir Junior (Pakistan), Steve Bucknor (West Indies).
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.