ICC Champions Trophy 2017: Aamir Sohail backs down on match-fixing allegations against Pakistan
What’s the story?
With the comments against Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed landing him in hot water, former skipper Aamir Sohail has backed down on words that harboured along allegations of match fixing claiming that he was misunderstood.
Reacting to Sarfraz’s match-winning knock against Sri Lanka that helped Pakistan seal a semi-final berth against England, whom they overpowered easily on Wednesday, Aamir didn’t sound too pleased and said that external factors were the reason behind Pakistan’s passage to the final.
However, Aamir has now come out and said that the words were borne out of anger following the Pakistan skipper’s unwillingness to dedicate his knock to their legendary batsman Javed Miandad, who had turned 60 on June 12.
“My comments were made after I heard of reports of Sarfraz’s refusal to dedicate his performance against Sri Lanka to Miandad and him saying that Miandad criticises the team too much,” Aamir said.
“The other thing I said was that the facilitators of this win cannot be named. However, I never said nothing about match-fixing or any other foul play – my statement was misunderstood.”
The background
The Pakistan cricket team faced a barrage of criticism from many of their former players including the likes of Imran Khan, Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akhtar following the team's 124-run defeat in the series opener against India.
While those comments were understandable, Aamir Sohail’s comments aimed at the team, especially the skipper, at a time when the team had managed to upset the odds to seal a place in the final of a major ICC tournament, came as quite a surprise to everyone.
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The details
Aamir has, quite often in the past, got into trouble with his controversial comments but his tirade against Sarfraz was a bizarre one as he seemed to personally attack the skipper of the Pakistan side.
He felt that the 30-year-old had gone overboard with his comments and celebrations following his knock against Sri Lanka that helped the side beat their Asian counterparts by three wickets in a must-win contest.
The knock which came on the occasion of Miandad’s 60th birthday was a cause of celebration no doubt but Aamir felt that Sarfraz could have made it a point to dedicate the knock to the legendary batsman.
Aamir took matters further when he made a cryptic suggestion that external factors were at play in Pakistan's run to the finals that helped them set up a mouthwatering clash against arch-rivals India in the final to be played on Sunday.
With the comments starting to attract negative publicity, the 50-year-old has now decided to clarify the reason for his comments and also deny that he had made any accusation of the sort against Pakistan.
What’s next?
It will be interesting to see whether Sarfraz reacts to the latest comments by the former Pakistan skipper with the final against India a little over a day away.
Pakistan will no doubt be boosted by the news that speedster Mohammad Amir is set to be fit in the time for the final having missed the semi-final clash against England with a back spasm.
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Author’s take
Aamir Sohail is someone has earned quite a reputation of sorts with his controversial comments and his latest outburst can also be dismissed as a personal outburst that went a little overboard.
He might have been offended by Sarfraz’s attitude but as a former skipper, he should have been more responsible in the way he reacted, especially the manner and tone of his allegations.