PCB rejects Sharjeel Khan's appeal for relaxation in spot-fixing ban

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The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has rejected Sharjeel Khan's appeal to allow him to play domestic cricket, before his ban for involvement in spot-fixing expires in August this year.

A senior official of the PCB said that Sharjeel's application submitted by his lawyer had been discussed at the recent Board of Governors meeting in which the player had asked for permission to resume playing domestic cricket.

"Sharjeel in his application had appealed to the Board chairman, Ehsan Mani to use his discretionary powers under the anti-corruption code and give him relaxation to play domestic and club cricket before his ban ends in late August," Sharjeel's lawyer, Shaigan Ejaz said.

Shaigan said that his client made the appeal to Mani on grounds that the PCB had earlier given relaxation to pacer Mohammad Aamir and allowed him to start playing club and domestic cricket before his five-year ban ended in September, 2015.

But the PCB official said that after much debate the governing board members had decided that Sharjeel should only be allowed to resume cricket once his ban expires in August.

Sharjeel, a dashing opener, was suspended and sent back home after the start of the second Pakistan Super League edition in Dubai in February, 2017 and was later banned for five years for breaching five clauses of the anti-corruption code.

Sharjeel has appeared in one Test, 25 ODIs and 15 T20 internationals. The anti-corruption tribunal of the PCB, which banned Sharjeel, had later suspended half of his five-year ban.

Sharjeel in his application to the Board chairman accepted all five charges laid out against him by the tribunal for violating the anti-corruption code.