Fixing happened in Pakistan cricket because of players’ career concerns, opines Javed Miandad

Pakistan’s trio of Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif, and Salman Butt made headlines back in 2010 when they were convicted of taking bribes from a bookmaker ahead of their Test against England at the Lord’s. Amir and Asif bowled no-ball deliberately during the match and were later suspended for 5-10 years, while Butt, the then-Pakistan skipper, was banned from cricket for the same.

Former Pakistan skipper Javed Miandad made a bold statement in a recent interview on Cricket Pakistan. Miandad mentioned they used to play County cricket during their times, but there is no certainty that the current bunch of players from their country has the opportunity to take part in the same. In fact, the 65-year-old further came up with his opinion that Amir, Asif, and Butt had to get involved in the spot-fixing only because they were scared of their future in cricket.

“Ham logon ne County kheli hai, magar aaj jo ye ladke khel rahe hain, inka future kya hai? (We have played County, but those who are playing right now, what's their future?),” Miandad said on Cricket Pakistan.

“Apne logon ko dekhein, apne logon ne jo cricket kheli hai. Mujhe aisa kuch nahi hai, mujhe badi offers aati hain par main nahi jaata. Ye jo players khel rahe hain, ab ye aaj khel rahe hain. Inka future kya hai? Unko pata hai ki aaj maine kuch nahi kiya, toh kal main kya karunga? Fixing iss vajah se hui thi. Sabko dar tha ki ye kaat naa de hamko. (Look at our crickets who have played cricket in the past. I'm not talking about myself, I've received a lot of offers in the past but I don't go. What will happen to the players who are there right now? They know they don't have anywhere to go if they don't perform. Fixing happened because of this very reason. Everyone was scared that their career will be over).”