Mon Sep 30 06:15:58 UTC 2024: ## Pakistan Cricket Team Faced Enormous Pressure Due to Match-Fixing Accusations in the 1990s: Former Cricketer Mudassar Nazar
**Sharjah, UAE** – Former Pakistan cricketer Mudassar Nazar has revealed the immense pressure his team faced in the early 1990s, fueled by widespread accusations of match-fixing, particularly after defeats against arch-rivals India.
Speaking at the Cricket Predicta Conclave in Sharjah, Nazar stated that the team, despite being immensely talented, suffered from a “fear factor” of losing, with every defeat leading to whispers of match-fixing among fans back home.
“There was a lot of pressure on the Pakistan team because every time they lost a game, people thought the game was dubious, the game was fixed,” Nazar said, adding that no one was willing to accept that Pakistan had simply lost to a better team.
The intense rivalry with India further amplified the pressure, with defeats against their neighbours leading to even more scrutiny and speculation. “No Pakistani, no Indian, wanted to lose the game,” he said, highlighting the significance of India-Pakistan matches in Sharjah.
Nazar, who played 76 Tests and 122 ODIs for Pakistan, confessed that the fear of match-fixing accusations affected the team’s performance. “At some stage in the early 90s, I was part of that team which was fearful of losing the game, and that was entirely due to match fixing or fear of people believing the match was fixed,” he revealed.
The match-fixing saga eventually led to a judicial commission headed by Justice Malik Qayyum, which investigated the claims and imposed sanctions on several players, including a life ban on former captain Salim Malik for fixing and pacer Ata-ur-Rehman for lying.
Nazar’s comments shed light on the immense psychological toll that match-fixing allegations took on the Pakistan cricket team in the 1990s, highlighting the importance of combating such issues to ensure a fair and ethical sporting environment.
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