More 'rotten eggs' in Pak cricket, says Mohammad Zahid

Islamabad, Sep 6 : Former Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Zahid feels that there are more corrupt Pakistani players who need to be investigated by the International Cricket Council (ICC)’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU).

“There are more rotten eggs in the Pakistani set-up, and those rotten eggs need to be fully investigated by the cricketing authorities,” Pakpassion.net quoted Zahid, as saying.

“At this moment three players are involved in the spot fixing controversy and another player is being investigated, but I think there are others, as yet un-named,” he added.

Zahid who is currently playing league cricket in England, also said that he was not surprised by the three names that have come out, and insisted that the ICC needs to set a precedent to ensure that their punishment becomes a lesson for young players.

“I wasn’t surprised when the three names came out. Salman Butt was a decent guy. I trained with him quite a lot in his early days. I was very impressed with his attitude, but it seems that perhaps he has been mixing with the wrong crowd if the allegations are to be believed,” he said.

“The players want to make quick and big money. I think they will have instigated any dealings with a bookie. I don’t think the ICC should be at all lenient with the players, irrespective of age and experience. If any of the players have been involved in this wrongdoing, then they should get a life ban,” he added.

He further claimed that match fixing has been going on in the game for a very long time.

“It’s not just been a Pakistani problem, but an international one, and the authorities should really have looked into the problem a lot earlier,” Zahid said.

“Spot fixing is a more recent invention after match fixing became more difficult to instigate, but I think that match fixing was prevalent in Pakistani cricket circles more so in the 90s,” he added.