Rashid Latif picks Pakistan's spot-fixing scandal as his favourite cricketing memory of the decade

Pakistan cricket spot-fixing scandal shocked the entire cricket fraternity almost a decade ago when certain players of Pakistan’s national cricket team were convicted of taking bribes behind the scenes from a bookmaker identified as Mazhar Majeed. The infamous spot-fixing was intentionally done in a bid to underperform at certain pre-arranged spells during a Test game between England and Pakistan at the Lord’s, London, in August 2010.

It should be noted that undercover reporters from News of the World had secretly videotaped Mazhar Majeed taking money and notifying the reporters that Pakistani fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir would intentionally bowl no-balls at particular points during the game. These confidential details could be manipulated by gamblers so that they can place bets with the help of this inside information which is known as spot-fixing.

In reply to these infamous allegations, Scotland Yard detained the accused Majeed on a charge of match-fixing. The world cricket body, International Cricket Council (ICC) banned three Pakistan players namely team captain Salman Butt, fast bowlers- Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir for terms of between 5 and 10 years.

Rashid Latif made the remark in reply to ICC’s question

In November 2011, Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif were found guilty by a London court on criminal charges pertaining to spot-fixing. Amir and Majeed entered guilty pleas over the same charges. All four were handed prison sentences from six months to 32 months. Though Mohammad Amir has since returned to spice it up for Pakistan, Salman Butt and Mohammed Asif have never represented their nation since then.

As the cricket fraternity is bidding adieu to 2019, former and current cricketers, cricket associations picked the World XI of the decade. Meanwhile, former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif shockingly labelled the 2010 spot-fixing scandal as his favourite cricketing moment of the decade.

Latif made the remark in reply to a Twitter question posted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) that asked for people to disclose their favourite cricketing memory of the last decade. “Spot-fixing scandal 2010 London,” Latif said on Twitter.

Spot Fixing scandal 2010 London.

— Rashid Latif راشد لطیف 🇵🇰 (@iRashidLatif68) December 25, 2019