Pak batsman faces 10- year ban for spot-fixing

Pakistan batsman Khalid Latif is likely to be handed a ban of up to 10 years by the three-member anti-corruption tribunal of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The tribunal headed by a former judge of the Lahore High Court is expected to announce its verdict on Khalid's spot-fixing case at the earliest. The tribunal has imposed a five-year ban on another Pakistan batsman Sharjeel Khan for similar offences in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) this year. Sharjeel and Khalid were sent home from Dubai at the start of the PSL in February after being suspended under the PCB's anti-corruption code. A top PCB official said that the tribunal, which also included a former chairman of the board and former Test captain Wasim Bari, could end up finding Khalid guilty on all eight counts of breaching the PCB's anti-corruption code. "The PCB has levelled eight charges, four of them serious ones against Khalid and if they are all accepted by the tribunal it could end up banning the batsman for at least 10 years," he said. Khalid is facing an additional charge of coaxing and influencing Sharjeel to meet a bookmaker and involve in spot-fixing in the PSL.