Future of Pak cricket team in doldrums if tough 
punitive actions not taken to correct players

LONDON: A big uproar over the alleged betting scam involving the Pakistan cricket tam has put in danger of future of Pakistani cricket team if severe punitive actions are not taken to correct outrageous and unleashed players.
Initially four and later on three players were stated to be involved allegedly in spot-fixing during the current series against England. 
Mazhar Majeed, the man at the centre of an alleged betting scam involving the Pakistan cricket team was out on bail Monday as police, governments and authorities probed the scandal rocking the sport.
Following the sensational disclose of the scandal, the London based ‘News of the World’ newspaper on Sunday, the shameful act has become talk of town every where especially in Britain and Pakistan. The newspaper said it paid 35-year old Mazhar Majeed 150,000 pounds (230,000 dollars, 185,000 euros) in return for advance details about the timing of three no-balls in the fourth and final Test, which England won on Sunday to take the series 3-1. The report said Aamer and Asif delivered blatant no-balls at the exact points in the match indicated by the alleged middleman.
Lords’ Ceremony:
The Lord's Test was played to a finish Sunday, but unusually, the post-match presentation ceremony did not take place on the outfield but was moved inside the pavilion.
During the ceremony, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Giles Clarke refused to shake Aamer's hand when presenting the player with the Pakistan Man of the Series award and a cheque for 4,000 pounds.
Majeed bailed:
Mazhar Majeed, 35, the man at the centre of match-fixing allegations involving the Pakistan cricket team was bailed late Sunday without charge. He was arrested on Saturday as officers investigated claims that reporters paid a middleman £150,000 in return for exact details relating to play during the Lord's Test match.
In a statement, Scotland Yard said Mr Majeed had been bailed to appear before police at a future date. The spokesman said the police would not be discussing the date or his bail conditions.
Mazhar Majeed is a property developer and sports agent.
Scotland Yard may have been tipped off a month ago about match-fixing in the first match of the England v Pakistan Test series at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, it has been reported. 
In a tabloid newspaper sting, Majeed claimed that he had been running a racket with seven players for "about two and a half years" and added "we’ve made masses and masses of money". 
According to the newspaper, before the game at Lord’s, he specifically ordered two Pakistan players to deliver deliberate no-balls, by overstepping the crease as they bowled. 
They did so exactly at the moments he pinpointed on Thursday and Friday. Mr Majeed reportedly claimed that by tipping off betting syndicates they could place "spot" bets and make millions of pounds. 
He also made more serious claims that he could arrange to have players throw Test matches and one-day internationals, it is alleged. 
The Daily Telegraph has claimed that Majeed, who presents himself as a property tycoon and football club owner, has left thousands of pounds in unpaid bills and a string of companies that have closed in his wake. 
Faisal Hameed, a former business partner of Mr Majeed, said that three years ago their Croydon-based company Bluesky Developments, which sponsored some of the Pakistan players, was dissolved after it began losing money due to the financial crisis.
The accounts of Bluesky, and Croydon Athletic football club, a non-league team owned by him, will be studied by detectives. According to the reports, Mr Majeed boasted he laundered the proceeds of the match-fixing racket through the club.
Sources said that the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption unit, whose investigators flew in from their base in Dubai on SUnday, would study all 82 Tests and one-day matches played by Pakistan in the period Mr Majeed reportedly claimed to have rigged matches.
He and his young family live in a £1.8million home, where neighbours said he would host barbecues for hundreds of guests. 
But hidden among his company directorships are thousands of pounds in unpaid bills and a string of firms that have closed down. 
Gilani’s reaction:
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said the claims "have bowed our heads in shame", as he launched an investigation. Gilani said a probe was under way. "The latest fixing allegations have bowed our heads in shame," the prime minister told reporters in his home town of Multan. "I have ordered a thorough inquiry into these allegations so that action could be taken against those who are proven guilty." President Asif Ali Zardari has expressed his disappointment at the claims and is being informed of developments.
The country's federal sports minister Ijaz Jakhrani promised that any players found guilty would be severely punished. If wrongdoing was proven, "all the players involved must forget to play for Pakistan in future," he said.
Newspaper’s report:
The News of the World newspaper said it paid Majeed 150,000 Pounds in return for advance details about the timing of three no-balls in the fourth and final Test, which England won on Sunday to take the series 3-1.
The report said Aamer and Asif delivered blatant no-balls at the exact points in the match indicated by the alleged middleman.
The News of the World published a photograph, video and audio of its encounters with Majeed. He was pictured counting wads of banknotes given to him by a reporter posing as a front man for a betting syndicate.
Undercover reporters from the News of the World allegedly paid a middleman £150,000 and in return were told exact details relating to play during the following day.
The paper said it was able to buy its way into a match-fixing ring by posing as Far Eastern businessmen. The reporting team claims it was told exactly when three no balls would be bowled during the current Test.
Sharad Pawar:
International Cricket Council president Sharad Pawar on Monday ruled out any action against Pakistani players over a match-fixing scandal until investigations are completed.
"We have discussed it within the ICC and have decided to wait for the police investigation report," Pawar, a senior Indian cabinet minister, told reporters.
"After that we have to take a viewpoint of the two boards, in this case the Pakistan Cricket Board and the England and Wales Cricket Board.
"If anything is established, it will be viewed very seriously by the two boards and the ICC.
"I am absolutely confident that both boards will never encourage protecting anybody who has done a wrong thing," he said, calling the allegations themselves "quite serious".
Pawar said he was unaware that the middleman, Mazhar Majeed, told the tabloid that he worked for an "Indian party"."I don’t know," the former Indian cricket chief said. "The BCCI (Indian cricket board) will have to take a view on that.
Strauss for ban:
England Cricket captain Andrew Strauss called for life bans for anyone found guilty of match-fixing as England’s victory over Pakistan was tainted by one of sport’s biggest scandals. 
 ‘If someone is proven to categorically be guilty then the only way forward is for them not to play international cricket again,’ said the England captain.
 ‘We are both sad and despondent because not for one moment did we think anything untoward was happening in this Test. It is important to remember they are only allegations at this stage but when I was sitting watching News at Ten on Saturday I didn’t expect our match to be lead item.’ 
Andrew Strauss trusts cricket's top-brass administrators to make the right call on whether England's limited-overs matches against Pakistan should go ahead. 
ICC World Twenty 20:
Khalid Hussain, sports correspondent of ‘Arab News’ has claimed in his story on M onday that there was also evidence that some of them could be involved in spot-fixing during the ICC World Twenty20 championship in the West Indies earlier this year.
According to sources, local authorities in the Caribbean have in their record several text messages sent and received by a few key national team players during the ICC World Twenty20.
"The authorities in two Caribbean islands where the Twenty20 World Cup was held have in their possession some text messages that were sent by the players to suspected bookies," said a reliable source.
Pakistan went to the ICC World Twenty20 held in Barbados, Guyana and St Lucia early this summer as the defending champions and reached the semifinal after a few hiccups. They lost the semifinal against Australia from a seemingly winning position after off-spinner Saeed Ajmal bowled an extremely expensive last over.
Veena Malik: 
Mohammad Asif's ex-girl friend has launched a scathing attack at the bowler and accused him of being directly involved in match-fixing.  As a panelist on a news channel, Veena Malik accused the fast bowler of being 'criminal minded' and a 'serial match-fixer.'
Here's what she had to say: 
-Asif reportedly told her that Pakistan will not win a series until 2010
-She has accused Asif of bribing an Indian doctor during his doping trial at the Indian Premier League
-He is supposed to have told Mohammad Amir "I have had more court cases than your age (18)"
-He reportedly told Veena Malik: "Stop praying....we will not win a single match during the tour to Australia."
Asif's alleged dealings:
"He went to Bangkok to meet some bookmakers within a notice of 24 hours. This is when we were in a relationship. The conversation on the phone before the tour of Australia was specifically about fixing."
-Kalim Imran supposedly provided Asif with nandrolone injections. Malik claims she had asked what had happened to Asif's performance to which Asif replied, "That wasn't me, that was the nandrolone."
-Indian bookie's incoming text: Asif used to send texts to Dhiraj Dixit from his servant's numbers. 
Conversation: Dhiraj says: "I can give you 40,000 dollars for this deal. Asif says: "No I want 200,000 dollars." Dhiraj says: I would like some more team members for this deal." 
She adds: "After this Asif disappeared for a day. After some checks I found out he had gone to Bangkok and returned within 24 hours. Upon returning and finding out that I had discovered something, Asif became a little shady and we started having fights."
-When Pakistan started losing in Australia, I jokingly said, "For god's sake win a match." To this he replied, "We won't win anything until 2010."
Veena Malik, a former model and TV host, has said she is willing to part of any hearing related to match-fixing and will surely testify.