Tue, Oct 26 10 09:38 PM
Karachi, Oct 26 (PTI) Former captain Salim Malik wants the Pakistan Cricket Board and International Cricket Council to officially remove the life ban on him that was imposed in 2000 for his alleged involvement in match fixing. Malik told PTI on Tuesday that a civil court on the orders of the Supreme Court had deemed the ban illegal and cleared him but until now the ICC and PCB had not officially announced he was free of any life ban. "It has been a torturous last seven years for me as I have spent lot of money and time in fighting my case to get justice. I now want everyone to know I am not serving any life ban," Malik, who played 103 Tests and 283 one-day internationals, said. His lawyer, Shahid Karim explained that Malik had first filed a petition against the life ban in the lower court but it refused to give his client a hearing. "My client then went to the Supreme Court which directed the civil court to hear the case and give a judgement. The lower court in its judgement has said that the life ban on Malik was illegal and we have also sent a copy of this to the PCB," Karim said. Malik said sometime back the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt had even called him for a meeting and offered him a coaching job at the national cricket academy. "But one day after that when I went to collect the letter he told me the board couldn''t appoint me since my case was with the International Cricket Council," Malik said. The former batsman said he was keen to now renew his ties with cricket and clear his name and now wanted the PCB and ICC to clear his name. "The judgement says that the ban was never imposed on me because the PCB sent me a notice saying why they were considering a life ban on recommendations of the inquiry committee but they never got back to me," he said. Malik said he had suffered a lot since the ban was announced on the recommendations of the Justice Malik Qayyum inquiry committee. "I want my name cleared now. Why was only I made the scapegoat. I want justice. I have a court order and it should be upheld," he said. Malik and other Pakistani players were investigated and questioned during the nearly 18-month long inquiry carried out by the Qayyum commission. Malik claimed that the inquiry itself was full of holes and Qayyum had admitted he didn''t have sufficient evidence to charge anyone. "Qayyum himself has now been accused of corruption and wrong doing so how can his report be given credence by the board," Malik questioned.
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