Mohammad Asif And Salman Butt - Playing to Exonerate Themselves?

It is strange how a dreadful situation can part a combination as the ICC anti corruption tribunal happens to be doing to the two Pakistan cricketers.

mohammad asif at hearing

First reports were abuzz that Mohammad Aamer would look to save his young cricket career by implicating that he was only following the instructions of his captain, who happened to be Salman Butt at the time, and the senior fast bowler, Mohammad Asif.

Now sources close to the ICC tribunal are suggesting that it may be Asif who may have parted company with Salman Butt on the innocence stance. There are some suggestions that Asif has spoken against Butt by suggesting that it was on the advice of Butt to bowl the faster ball that the no ball resulted. If that indeed is Asif’s new stand, as his legal team led by the brother of the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, appears to be claiming, then it seems that Asif is not altogether leaving Butt alone in the battle because by that implication, Asif is not necessarily suggesting that he received specific instructions to bowl a no ball. In that he may not necessarily be nailing Butt, but by suggesting that Butt gave specific instructions at specific moments in the game, Asif could come close to shutting the doors on Salman Butt.

However, this is based merely on the speculation of one statement. And Mohammad Asif has had one too many brushes in the past that have threatened to take his cricket career away from him. But perhaps for the first time, the seriousness of these allegations surpasses the gravity of the previous ones, equally bad on the sport but this one directly threatens the integrity of the game and how it is played. In that light, the ICC is not expected to merely take Asif at face value but if he has made that statement, then it will perhaps view in light with other evidence before it reveals its verdict.

But for a while now, it was being said that the cracks are emerging between the three cricketers who have previously maintained their innocence but are perhaps realizing that individually they all stand to lose immensely should they go on to lose this case.