Shahid Afridi and Muhammad Amir (Image source: AFP)
Former Pakistan player and national selector Abdul Razzaq has revealed how, through a twist of fate, a spot-fixing conspiracy in 2010 first caught the attention of the team management during Pakistan’s tour of England. Razzaq also narrated how captain Shahid Afridi slapped fast bowler Mohammad Amir after the young bowler initially denied his involvement in the scandal.Speaking on a Pakistani television programme, Razzaq said that the conspiracy behind the rigging during the 2010 Lord’s Test score-fixing scandal was uncovered by a friend of his in London who worked part-time as a mobile phone repairman.
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Razzaq said: “What happened is that Mazhar Majeed came to my friend and asked him to repair one of his phones, and when my friend was able to operate the phone late at night, he found several messages between Mazhar and the three players detailing the repair plans for the match.”
Majeed was later jailed for conspiring with Pakistani Test captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Amir to fix their spot during the Test.According to Razzaq, his friend showed him the messages immediately, prompting him to inform Afridi, who was the most senior player in the team at the time.Afridi resigned as Test captain before the series but remained the white-ball captain.“Afridi called Amir, who was only 18, to his room and asked me to wait outside.
I could hear Afridi getting angry and asking him to tell the truth. When he kept denying it, she heard a loud slap and rushed inside, Razzaq recalls.He added, “After that, Amir broke down in tears and confessed to the plot, and the gates of hell broke loose.”Razzaq said the scandal might not have escalated if the Pakistan Cricket Board and team management had acted more quickly.He said: “Some senior players advised the team manager to fine the three players and send them home for disciplinary reasons before the ICC intervenes.”Ultimately, Butt, Asif and Amir were banned by the International Cricket Council, and later received prison sentences from the UK Crown Court.Butt and Asif never played for Pakistan again, although they were allowed to return to domestic cricket after completing their five-year ban.Amir, whose age and early recognition were taken into account, returned to international cricket in 2016. He continued to play until the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, although he had earlier stepped away from international cricket due to voluntary retirement between 2020 and 2024.