Who can fix better - Azhar or Wasim?

My apologies for a rather long hiatus. Here we go again...

In his "diary", ace editor of Outlook Magazine, Vinod Mehta, quoted Wasim Akram as being "the mother of all match-fixers", who is still being coveted by several sports channels, while the modest Hyderabadi, Mohd. Azharuddin was completely denounced by ESPN and Star Sports after the he was found guilty by the CBI for match fixing.

Vinod Mehta is not exaggerating when he terms Wasim as "the mother of all match fixers". Wasim was, time and again, alledged by his own countrymen for the grave malpractice. Leading from the front was Aamir Sohail, the troubled baby of Pakistan cricket, followed by Rashid Latif, and others. But somehow, Wasim managed to get a "clean chit" and continued to play cricket till he gracefully retired.

I am not the best person to comment on as to why the PCB helped Wasim Akram Chaudhry to roll all the allegations under the carpet, but the following thing might have helped for sure: his superb performance as Pakistan's captain, his lethal left-arm fast bowling, and a good all round performance. Wasim was, no doubt, the best left arm pace bowler ever to play international cricket, and when the allegations surfaced, he hadn't really passed his prime. So, perhaps PCB needed Wasim to play for the team and keep performing. After all, who would have liked to loose an awesome cricketer like him, who could make the ball (and the batsman) dance to his in-swinging and "yorking" tunes.

But this does not bury the fact that Wasim did fixed quite a lot of matches - making good sum of money, and leading his team to loose quite a few matches. The PCB not helding him accountable speaks a lot about their own accountability, while on the Indian side Azhar (who had passed him prime when found guilty) was banned for life, and Ajay Jadeda (who could very well have gone on to become India's captain) was given a stick for 5 years - thus, giving a dismal and sudden end to his career.

The following is what Mr. Mehta has to say:

http://outlookindia.com/diary.asp?fodname=20060220