Sharjeel's plea gets tossed out

Karachi: Test batsman Sharjeel Khan's appeal against the five-year ban imposed on him by an Anti-Corruption tribunal for spot-fixing has been dismissed by an independent adjudicator of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

The adjudicator, a former Supreme court judge, dismissed Sharjeel s appeal and also the appeal filed by the PCB seeking a longer punishment and imposition of a fine on the batsman.

The Anti-Corruption tribunal had imposed a five-year ban, half of it suspended, on Sharjeel after finding him guilty on all five counts of charges related to the PCB s anti- corruption code in September.

Sharjeel was found guilty of meeting with a suspected bookmaker and accepting an offer to spot-fix during a match of the Pakistan Super League in Dubai in February.

Sharjeel and another Pakistan player, Khalid Latif were both sent back from Dubai after being suspended under the anti-corruption code by the PCB.

Sharjeel s lawyer confirmed that the batsman would now most probably file another appeal in the High Court. He pleaded not guilty to all five charges. The PSL spot-fixing scandal shook Pakistan cricket and led to suspensions of four other national team players, Shahzaib Hasan, Nasir Jamshed, Muhammad Irfan and Muhammad Nawaz.