Image via indiatoday.com
The Pakistan cricket team finds itself under the scanner of ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit for match fixing once again, this time for going on to win the first Test against Australia rather convincingly.
Although Pakistan outplayed Australia throughout the match, it is the unusual pattern, or rather the lack of it, on the last day of play that has raised the suspicions of authorities. “Pakistan seemed all set to snatch a draw from the jaws of victory during the final session of play, what with catches being dropped, the Aussie tail enders being allowed to settle in and all. In fact, Shastri thambi had SMSed me from Mumbai that all three results are possible at this stage of the game. But they somehow managed to hold their nerves and dismissed the tail to snatch only victory from the jaws of victory, paa,” remarked an incredulous ICC chairman, N Srinivasan.
It didn’t help matters either when a slightly animated Misbah-ul-Haq said during the post-match conference that “for a change, things went according to script”.
The Australian camp also feels bookies might have influenced the outcome in Pakistan’s favour this time. “Although we were completely outplayed in every department, we felt confident going into the final session with two wickets in hand,” a crestfallen Clarke said. “Mitch and Siddle were finding it more and more difficult to get dismissed. Mitch even signaled to the dressing room after he was dropped for the fourth time to keep the champagne ready. So even after he was stumped, he fancied his chances, confident that the bowler must have over-stepped the line. Now you can well understand our surprise when replays showed it was a perfectly legitimate delivery.”
The Pakistan cricket team’s appeal that why not probe the Aussies for losing the match so comprehensively has no takers. “The Aussies are one-trick ponies, paa. They suck as much on slow, turning pitches as we Indians do on bouncy tracks. They appeared genuinely clueless. It is only Pakistan that has a lot of questions to answer for a clinical performance,” emphasized Srini.
A match fixer, on condition of anonymity, said recent developments augur well for his community. “We are very excited with the new options on the table – Pakistan taking money to win matches, West Indies taking money to abandon matches,” he said.