Miandad called to explain match-fixing allegations

Pakistan's sacked national cricket coach Javed Miandad has been summoned to appear in court to substantiate allegations of match-fixing, court officials said on Wednesday.s

Miandad and Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Tauqir Zia has been called to appear on April 25 before Lahore High Court Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum, who investigated charges of corruption in Pakistan cricket last year.

Miandad last Saturday accused his team of deliberately losing a one-day series to New Zealand in February and demanded an inquiry to unearth the players involved.

"The video footages are available which will unveil everything. The matches against New Zealand were pre-decided," Miandad said three days after being removed as coach.

"I now want the board to hold an internal inquiry," he added.

Zia has ordered a probe into the team's fitness, attitude and reasons for below-par performance in the one-day series which Pakistan lost 3-2, but has ruled out looking into match-fixing allegations.

New Zealand umpiring officials said on Tuesday they did not believe matches had been fixed.

Miandad said from Lahore on Wednesday he was unaware of the summons but that what he had actually meant was to have an inquiry into the team's poor performance.

"I pressed for an inquiry not because I believed that Pakistan threw matches but (because) I wanted the public to know why the team didn't perform when I was the coach," he said.

Pakistan last year banned former captain Salim Malik and Ata-ur-Rehman for life while fining and censuring six others after the Justice Qayyum probe into betting and match-fixing.

Mail Cricket Editor