OTD: The black day cricket, when 3 Pakistani cricketers involved in match fixing scandal

In 2010, the whole cricket integrity was rocked when the news of a huge spot-fixing scandal broke out involving three Pakistan internationals, including their skipper. For a significant amount of money, those cricketers agreed with a bookmaker to fix the match against England at Lord's cricket ground, and they did exactly the same according to the plan.

Then the skipper of Pakistan, Salman Butt, fast bowler Mohammad Asif, and a highly talented pacer, Mohammad Amir, were in the headlines with the allegations to spot-fix the Test match. The incident was staged during Pakistan's tour of England, specifically during the fourth Test match at Lord's.

The theory of a possible spot-fixing scandal started to revolve around no-balls at specific moments. Amir's no-ball was enough to raise the eyebrows. He overstepped the line by miles. An undercover sting operation led by News of the World, a British tabloid, exposed the whole episode and the main man behind the spot fixing. Along with three cricketers, another name started to float around every corner of the cricket world: Mazhar Majeed, a sports agent who had connections with the players.

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Involving cricketers received prison sentences 

Majeed orchestrated the dark episode of cricket history, and the cricketers did according to that. Footage from the sting operation emerged as one of the prime pieces of evidence against them. The International Cricket Council (ICC), with immediate effect, suspended the three players.

In November 2011, after a high-profile trial in London, all three players were found guilty of corruption and conspiracy to accept illegal payments. Salman Butt was sentenced to 30 months in prison, while Mohammad Asif went to jail for a year. Because of his young age and early confession, Mohammad Amir received a six-month prison sentence.