Khalid Latif: Players being made scapegoats by PCB

Pakistan cricketer Khalid Latif's lawyer has claimed that his client had offered to help get the so-called bookie, who was involved the spot fixing controversy in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches, arrested but his appeal was ignored by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Speaking from Lahore, where he attended a hearing with his Khalid (they boycotted the part of the second day's hearing though), lawyer Badar Alam said: "The PCB was not interested in getting to the bottom of this scandal, but wanted the players to be scapegoats. Khalid had even asked PCB officials to allow him to call the bookie and get the police alerted. The PCB should have been happy with this offer, but they never acted."

"My client did not go to bookie (Yousuf) on his own, but he was repeatedly asked by Nasir Jameshed to go and meet his 'friend'. Nasir had even said to him that his image would be spoilt if he does not go and meet him.

"The PCB is lying by saying that Khalid has accepted the charges in a video recording. My client has never said so. We have been constantly requesting them to hand over the tape where he has said so, but the PCB is saying it is a confidential tape and cannot be handed over. How can we prove our innocence if my client is denied the access of the evidence?"

"Before the spot-fixing scandal broke, the PCB was said to be alerted by United Kingdom"s National Crime Agency (NCA). Then why didn"t the PCB officials also cautioned the players. If they failed in this, they should also be equally responsible", the lawyer added.

"The PCB lawyer is claiming that the bat grips were found on Latif"s bats. This is untrue. The grips were in his kit bag (not on bats) and the same information was furnished to the PCB by Latif himself.

"Yousuf had dropped my at a hotel in the late night of 9th February, after my refusal to accept his offer. He put the different colours of bat-grips in my bag and had said they are of not use to him", Latif had informed to the PCB in a letter, a copy of which is in the possession of this Reporter.

"My honesty and clear conscious is evident, but you have improperly converted the same into charges against me by distorting the facts instead of appreciating my fair conduct", Latif's reply has said.

"The PCB is only acting on presumptions in this case and that's were we are objecting to it", the lawyer signed off.