Spin legend Shane Warne has revealed that former Pakistan skipper Saleem Malik had offered him and fellow spinner Tim May US$200,000 ($AUD276,000) each to bowl poorly during the Karachi Test match of the 1994 Test series between the two sides. The King of Spin made the revelation in his upcoming documentary Shane. “We’re feeling pretty confident that we’re going to knock over Pakistan. I knock on the door, Saleem Malik answers the door. I sit down, and he goes, ‘Good match we’ve got going’. I went, ‘Yep, I think we should win tomorrow though’. He goes, ‘Well we can’t lose …. you don’t understand what happens when we lose in Pakistan. Our houses will get burnt down, out family’s houses will get burnt down’,” Warne said.
Australia needed seven more wickets to win the Test at Karachi’s National Stadium when Warne, who was at the time was on an annual contract worth approximately AUD$25,000-30,000, turned it down. “I don’t really know what to say. I just sort of sat there, stunned. And then I go, ‘F*** you, mate. We’re going to beat ya’. When you talk about match-fixing now, people hope it doesn’t go on. Back in that time, 30 years ago, there was no talk about it. It had never raised its head anywhere in any sport. When he offered me that, it was a bit like, ‘What the hell?’ I was blown away, I didn’t know anything about it,” Warne said. Warne and Tim had also informed Mark Taylor and national coach Bob Simpson about the incident, which was also communicated to match referee John Reid. Saleem Malik was later banned for life from cricket in 2000 after being found guilty of match-fixing and ended his career with 5768 runs in Test cricket including 15 centuries and 7170 runs in One-day Internationals.
