There's a different controversy brewing in Pakistan cricket.
Pervez Jamal Mir, a former cricket player for Pakistan, has claimed that following an altercation in the dressing room during Pakistan’s 1993 tour of the West Indies, Rashid Latif slapped Javed Miandad.
“Miandad was seated outside the dressing room,” Pervez recalled in a recent broadcast on a Pakistani television station about player issues inside the team. Seventy-year-old Pervez participated in three One-Day Internationals, including the 1975 World Cup.
I can’t remember ever giving someone a slap in my life. In a clear denial that he had hit Pakistani cricket star Miandad, Latif said, “I sent a legal notice because we must put an end to the spread of false stories in front of the nation.” Latif claims that Miandad refuted the incident as well.
The whole saga began with a television discussion on Samaa TV concerning internal player rivalries.
“This rivalry was something I saw in 1993. Because of an event in Guyana, I took a plane from London to Antigua. The manager was Khaled Mahmood. “For God’s sake, don’t make any statements to the media,” I begged Khaled saab. I found out later that two players had received 10,000 pounds to sell the story to The Sun (in the UK). I said, “What are you doing?” to the players. That’s why we’ve come here: to support you while you accomplish this.
“And are you aware of what was going on in the changing room? Javed Miandad was smacked by Rashid Latif. Miandad, poor thing, was sitting outside the changing area. In Antigua, there was a fierce fight in the changing room. I asked the former Pakistani opener Mudassar Nazar what was going on. It had become a pretty terrible atmosphere. Javed should forget about it, I told him. These occurrences take place in such stressful circumstances. During the conversation, which also included former cricket players Mushtaq Ahmed and Shahid Afridi, Pervez disclosed that in order to handle such problems, the team needs to have the appropriate individuals overseeing it at the board level.
Latif used tough language in his legal letter to Pervez and demanded an unconditional apology. “That the language you used on national television is inaccurate in its portrayal of the events that occurred on the tour, in addition to being crude, rude, and immoral. The legendary Javed Miandad was never struck by our client, nor did he ever raise his voice.
This is to firmly deny on behalf of our client your blatantly unsubstantiated, unjustified, shameless, and frivolous comment, which you made with the express purpose of ruining the reputation that they have built up over their cricket career. The claim made by you has also been denied by Great Javed Miandad, which clearly demonstrates your malice towards our client,” Latif’s notice stated. If the allegation is not retracted and an unconditional apology is not given within 14 days, Latif threatened to sue for damages totaling one billion rupees.
Pervez is yet to respond to this queries.
For the record, during the tour of 1993, four Pakistani cricketers, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Mushtaq Ahmed and Aaqib Javed, were arrested and charged for possessing marijuana in Guyana.