As the verdict in the spot-fixing case has been announced by an ICC tribunal whereby three Pakistani cricketers, Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Aamer, have been found guilty, the timing of the case is of extreme importance for Pakistan cricket and its fans. The trio has been banned from playing cricket at least for five years. But their punishment started quite earlier when they were suspended from playing cricket in September last year when the scandal first hit the headlines.
There is further trouble in store for the trio as they have been charged with taking bribes to fix incidents in the Test match by British prosecutors and have been asked to appear in Crown Court next month.
While the decision to ban these cricketers is demoralising for the entire nation and Pakistan cricket team in particular, the one thing the team and all its supporters needs to do is to stay calm and exercise restraint. Whatever happened is now part of the history and the team should focus its attention on its future assignments, especially the upcoming World Cup.
More importantly, we as supporters need to give our full support to our boys especially at a time when they are under immense pressure from international media. We must rally behind our boys and must not let their morale down.
Pakistan cricket has seen many lows before and each time it came out and rose to new heights. We need to remain in a positive frame of mind and Must Not let our team suffer in the hands of international media during the coming World Cup.
MUNIBA NASIR
Karachi