PCB urges Pak to ensure caution during `sensitive England return` for Champions Trophy

Karachi: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has urged the players to take strong caution during the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy to safeguard themselves during a `sensitive return` to England following the spot-fixing scandal three years ago.

In 2010, three Pakistan players, fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir and then-captain Salman Butt, were charged for conspiring with businessman Mazhar Majeed to ensure players bowled deliberate no-balls at pre-arranged times in a test match at Lord`s during Pakistan`s last tour of England and were banned for long periods. Last month Asif and Butt lost their appeals at the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Lausanne. Urging his squad to just focus on the eight-nation competition, team manager Naveed Akram Cheema, who took over as manager soon after the spot-fixing scandal broke out, said that the tour will be very sensitive for the team as a lot of people with vested interests may malign the players or let them down. The report further said that the PCB has taken extra precautionary measure this time by sending a vigilance officer along with a security manager. Meanwhile, Cheema further said that Asif, Amir and Butt were psychologically motivated for the spot fixing, adding that they were told what they had to do and how to carry themselves. Since Cheema took over, there have hardly been any off-field controversies with the Pakistan team, the report added. ANI