Karachi - Pakistan's Cricket Board on Tuesday suspended and charged
tall fast bowler Mohammad Irfan over his alleged involvement in spot-fixing
during a recently held Twenty20 league.
"The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in furtherance to its
investigation issued a Notice of Charge and provisionally suspended Irfan under
the PCB Anti-Corruption Code," it said in a statement.
It added: "Irfan has been charged with two violations
of the anti-corruption code and now has 14 days to respond to the Notice of
Charge," without giving further details.
"He has also been provisionally suspended with immediate effect from participating in all forms of cricket."
Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif, also members of the
Islamabad United team that took part in the Pakistan Super League, were also
provisionally suspended and charged last month over meeting a man suspected of
being linked to an international betting syndicate.
Another former Pakistan opener Nasir Jamshed was also
provisionally suspended on charges of being a "go between" in the
spot-fixing incident. Jamshed and another unnamed person were arrested in UK
last month but were bailed until April.
The PCB, which has formed a three-member tribunal under
retired judge Asghar Haider, said the investigation would continue.
Irfan, 34, appeared before the anti-corruption unit of the
PCB on Monday and confessed to being approached by a bookmaker about fixing
matches in the past six months.
He admitted he failed to report the incidents because of the
death of his father in September followed by his mother's passing in January.
Irfan was initially dropped from one match in the PSL but
was later cleared to play all remaining eight games.
Irfan made headlines for his extraordinary height - seven
feet and one inch - when he entered international cricket in 2010 and stands as
the tallest-ever player to feature in international cricket.
He has so far played four Tests, 60 one-day and 20 Twenty20
internationals.