Evaluation committee completes inquiry

Nasim Ashraf ordered the inquiry after Pakistan's early exit from the World Cup © AFP

The Performance Evaluation Committee (PEC) has completed its inquiry into finding out the reasons behind Pakistan's disastrous World Cup campaign.

PEC was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) after the team's return to Pakistan and has interviewed nearly 40 players, officials, and retired PCB functionaries during its two-week hearing. The aspect of match-fixing, suggested by some to have decided the fate of the team in the tournament, was termed baseless in the report.

"The inquiry has been completed and there is no evidence of match-fixing against any player," Ijaz Butt, committee chief, told AFP.

The committee chief also rejected a claim by former PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan, who said in March that parts of international cricket matches are fixed and spot-fixing happens on a regular basis.

"There is no evidence of any targetted match-fixing and Shaharyar's statement was found to be incorrect," added Ijaz.

Ijaz also criticised Pakistan media manager P J Mir for accusing the team of focusing their attention on religion rather than cricket.

"It was a stupid statement from P J Mir. If a player wants to offer prayers in a mosque and wants to give some donation for a good cause, it does not mean his attention is diverted from cricket," he said.

According to Ijaz, the details of the findings will be submitted to the PCB next week.