It is so sad that we are talking about the shame of Pakistan cricket again. I don’t feel sorry for the players being sent to the jail – I have sympathy only for Pakistan cricket because its image has once more been dragged through the mud. The maximum sentence that could have been applied in London was seven years and, in the case of Salman Butt, that would not have been too much. He was the captain who influenced this whole thing. And the agent should have got the same.
I’m angry with Butt and can’t believe he got away so lightly. If he had not been caught he would almost certainly have carried on doing these dirty things.
It’s a pity because Salman won two Tests as captain and he was showing that he might become a very good captain of Pakistan. He had a lot of talent, but he also had a corrupt mind. He is the one most responsible for bringing disgrace on Pakistan cricket.
It also surprised me that Mohammad Asif received only a year. That really surprised me. He is 28 and not exactly a youngster. He should have got four years at least.
In the case of Mohammad Aamer, I believe the judge was exactly right. He was only 18 years old. Potentially he still has a future in front of him. He was almost as big a victim as the game itself, because he should have been protected. But, having said that, had he not been punished strongly enough, he might have been tempted to do it again in the future. Looking at the bigger picture, there are other names who will be looking over their shoulder now. It is up to the PCB and ICC to find enough evidence to punish them. If they can do that they should be banned and kept well away from the game, not allowed to play in first-class cricket, not allowed to coach in any form of the game, not allowed to even commentate on it.
That is how India dealt with Mohammad Azharuddin, Manoj Prabhakar and Ajay Jadeja when they had these issues. If they can’t find the evidence but still have strong suspicions then such players should be kept away from selection of the Pakistan team. Telegraph
An unusually harsh and a long term sentence could have been successfully appealed against. Besides the objective was not to decimate the players but to make them realise that what they did was wrong. It also gave a message to the countless young individuals seeking a professional career that there are consequences of wrong doing. How India dealt with its players is a matter for India.
A progressive forward looking Pakistan needs to set its own standards and make a very strong effort to achieve those. India has not been able to deliver to a vast majority of its own people.
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