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Former Pakistan fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz has urged Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shahryar Khan, the England and Wales Cricket Board and Australian Cricket Board to put pressure on Narayanswami Srinivasan to step down as ICC chairman on moral grounds following the Supreme Court of India's verdict on Thursday.
Nawaz claimed that though Srinivasan is now duty-bound to step down as ICC chairman after the Supreme Court verdict, the PCB along with Australia and England, as main members of the 'Big Three' countries in world cricket, should build a united stand to pressurise the top Indian cricket official to step down for the sake of smooth and controversy-free staging of the forthcoming World Cup.
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Nawaz said there are too many double standards in world cricket today, which continue to irk honest, fair-minded critics, adding that, for example, the ECB banned Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria for life but India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, facing similar charges, is still playing, which is clearly a case of double standards, the Dawn reported.
He insisted that the ICC must not adopt such double standards for Srinivasan if the world body wants to keep the 2015 World Cup free of fixing and other controversies.
Recently, ICC chief executive Dave Richardson said strict arrangements have been made to prevent any kind of corruption at the World Cup, being held in Australia and New Zealand from February 14 to March 29.
Nawaz, who is currently in Lahore supervising a PCB training camp for Under-19 cricketers at the National Cricket Academy, said that for the last many years he has been speaking against betting and match-fixing but claimed that the ICC has done nothing substantial yet to rid the game of the menace.
Image: Narayanswami Srinivasan
Photograph: PTI