Tainted trio dropped, Pak stoutly defends players

London/Karachi, Sep 2 (PTI) Succumbing to all round
pressure, Pakistan Thursday dropped the tainted trio of Salman
Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir from the ODI series
against England in the wake of the spot-fixing' scandal but
strongly defended them and vowed full support to them.
Capping dramatic events, the three are likely to be
interrogated by the Scotland Yard detectives into the scandal
notwithstanding the Pakistan High Commissioner to Britain
Wajid S Hasan ruling out such a possibility.
Though Hasan claimed the players opted out because of
tremendous "mental pressure", the dramatic development came
after a series of meetings between the ICC, the Pakistan
Cricket Board and the England and Wales Cricket Board
officials against the backdrop of the host players' refusal to
play against the implicated cricketers.
As the three players met Hasan in London, team manager
Yawar Saeed made the announcement that they have been left out
from the squad for the two Twenty20s and five one-dayers
against England starting Sunday.
"The Twenty20 squad will remain what it is here this
morning, that is 13 people. We have asked for replacements for
the three who have left," he told reporters in Taunton
where the team is playing a warm-up match against Somerset.
But within a few hours, the Pakistan High Commissioner
said that the players had opted out and had not been dropped
from the squad.
A top PCB source said that the trio would be summoned for
a fresh round of interrogation by the Scotland Yard later in
the day and will remain in London till the questioning is
completed.
"They have been summoned today and will be accompanied
this time by Pakistan Cricket Board's legal advisor Tafazzul
Rizvi and the English barrister hired by the Board in London,"
the source said.
The Pakistan High Commissioner defended the players and
insisted that they remain innocent until proven guilty. He
also rejected reports that the players are due to be grilled
by the Scotland Yard today and said the three would remain in
England for the investigations.
"They are extremely disturbed with what has happened in
the past one week. They have maintained that they are innocent
and on account of the mental torture that has hugely affected
them, they are not in the right frame of mind to play any
further," Hasan told reporters.
"Therefore, they have requested the Pakistan Cricket
Board not to consider them for the rest of the matches until
their names are cleared," he added.

Asked whether the passports of the three players had been
confiscated by the Scotland Yard, Hasan said, "Their passports
are with the team manager."
Hasan said the players morale is low but they would not
run away from the investigations.
"They are here, they are not running away. They are
innocent and they are defending their innocence. They are
upright young men, in fact one of them (Mohammad Aamir)
created a record of taking 50 wickets in the shortest time. We
will give them whatever support they might need," he said.
Pakistani sources said that the trio would remain in
London for further questioning by the Yard detectives and are
unlikely to join the team soon. They will be accompanied by
PCB legal advisor Taffazul Rizvi and an English barrister
hired by the Board.
The sources said in the past 24 hours the PCB has been
told in clear terms by the ICC that the three players cannot
play in the T-20 and one-day series against England until
investigations into the alleged involvement were over.
PTI Team
MYR