Sacked for fixing, Ejaz Ahmed Jr now appointed coach by PCB

The allegations of fixing a domestic T20 match against the former Test player surfaced when Basit Ali, also an ex-Test cricketer, claimed while commentating in a tournament, that Ejaz had told him he had fixed a game while coaching Sialkot

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) took a controversial decision which has raised eyebrows in the country. Former cricketer Ejaz Ahmed junior, who has fired four years ago following allegations of match-fixing, has been appointed as the head coach of Pakistan squad for the forthcoming Asian Emerging Nations Cup, to be held in Karachi and Colombo in December.

Clearing the air, the PCB has stated that a subsequent inquiry had found no evidence of fixing against Ejaz, who played two Tests and as many ODIs during a very brief international stint in the 90s. “The board resumed giving coaching assignments of junior teams in domestic cricket to Ejaz two years back,” said a PCB official.

Pakistan’s participation in the Asian Emerging Nations Cup

The Asian Cricket Council had to reschedule the tournament and organise it at two venues after India refused to tour Pakistan. The Pakistan team will be playing against Bangladesh, UAE and Hong Kong in the Karachi leg of the tournament from December 6 while India, Sri Lanka, Oman and Afghanistan play their matches in Colombo.

The semi-finals and final will be played in Colombo.

The Pakistani selectors have announced that discarded wicketkeeper-batsman, Muhammad Rizwan, will lead the squad which is a mixture of some seasoned players who have played for Pakistan and the top young performers of domestic cricket.

Pakistan Emerging squad: Sahibzada Farhan, Zeeshan Malik, Ali Imran, Hussain Talat, Saad Ali, Khushdil Shah, Saud Shakil, Muhammad Rizwan (captain, wicketkeeper), Ashiq Ali, Muhammad Asghar, Ghulam Mudassar, Sameen Gul, Musa Khan, Muhammad Ilyas, Suleman Shafqat.

The story of Ejaz Ahmed junior’s involvement in spot-fixing

The allegations of fixing a domestic T20 match against the former Test player surfaced when Basit Ali, also an ex-Test cricketer, claimed while commentating in a tournament, that Ejaz had told him he had fixed a game while coaching Sialkot.

As stated by Ali, Ejaz had told him that Sialkot lost a game on purpose to oust another team from the knockout stage of the tournament.

Soon after Ali made the comments, the board fired Ejaz as a regional coach and suspended him.