The International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption investigators are probing if Pakistan’s controversial batsman Yousuf Youhana’s run out for a duck against Sri Lanka in the first match of the ICC Champions Trophy was a setup or a genuine mistake, cricket sources said on Tuesday.
Youhana was run out after facing one ball in the 10th over of the tournament opener Thursday after his partner, Saeed Anwar, sent Youhana back.
Youhana had run almost the entire length of the pitch to take a single when he was sent back.
Mark Harrison, the representative for the ICC refused to comment on what the investigators were looking into.
”Our aim is not to point a finger at an individual player or a team, but go through the whole tape. The ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit has sought for tapes of the tournament opener and is reviewing a number of incidents,” Harrison said. He declined to elaborate on the incidents.
Youhana was recalled to the Pakistan side for the Champions Trophy after being sent home for disciplinary reasons from the recent triangular series in Nairobi, Kenya.
An argument with captain Waqar Younis had led to his expulsion from the cricket squad.
Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, Tauqur Zia, did not approve of Youhana being sent back and said the Nairobi incident was ”overblown.”
Pakistan suffered a crushing eight-wicket defeat in its first outing of the tournament against Sri Lanka.
The cricket officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said anti-corruption sleuths were looking into the tapes to find out if Youhana’s run out was a genuine misunderstanding with his partner or not.
”This is the usual procedure put in place by the ICC’s anti-corruption investigators,” Harrison said about asking for the tapes. ”If the investigators find anything unusual in the process of play, they will decide on the next course of action.”
Harrison said there were no immediate inferences to be made. The regular process of monitoring international matches is normally kept under wraps, but Harrison said intense media speculation on this match had prompted the ICC to issue a statement.
He said speculation about the anti-corruption inquiry into the Champions Trophy opener began after commentator Tony Greig, a former England captain, told television viewers on Sunday that the tapes had been sought by the investigators.
Harrison said no one should be surprised at the investigators seeking tapes of any match. He said this was not the first time the investigators had asked for tapes to study. – Sapa-AP