ACB suspends Ihsanullah Janat for five years

The 26-year-old Afghanistan international cricketer Ihsanullah Janat has been suspended for five years from all forms of cricket activities due to breaching the anti-corruption code.  

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has officially announced Ihsanullah Janat’s suspension on Wednesday (7th August). Janat has been charged with breaching the ACB and ICC anti-corruption codes during the Kabul Premier League 2024.  

Janat has admitted to the charges and confessed to his involvement in corrupt activities. His five-year ban has been effected immediately.  

The ACB officially stated, "Janat was found guilty of violating Article 2.1.1 of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code, which involves improper influence or efforts to fix the result, progress, conduct, or any other aspect of a match. In light of this violation, he has been handed a five-year ban from all cricket-related activities."

Investigations are on for three more players

In that statement, ACB further added that three more players are suspected of involvement in match-fixing. These investigations are underway. However, the ACB hasn’t revealed the names of these three other players. 

Ihsanullah Janat is the brother of Nawroz Mangal, Afghanistan’s first international captain. Janat made his international cricket debut in February 2017 during the ODI series against the hosts Zimbabwe. 

Ihsanullah Janat played 20 international matches

The right-handed top-order batter Janat has played three Tests, 16 ODIs, and only one T20I for Afghanistan. He has one Test half-century and three ODI half-centuries. His last international match was his T20I debut against Zimbabwe in June 2022. Janat played his last ODI against Bangladesh in September 2018 and his last Test against the West Indies in November 2019. 

Janat led the Afghanistan U19 team in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2016, where his team finished in ninth place by winning the Plate final. 

The right-handed top-order batter Janat has one first-class double-century, as his highest score in first-class cricket is 248 runs.

Last May, Ihsanullah Janat led the Afghanistan A team in the only unofficial Test against the hosts Sri Lanka A.