Pak cricketers Latif, Sharjeel given 14 days to respond to charges

Islamabad: The Pakistan Cricket Board has given Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif 14 days to respond to charges of violating its anti-corruption code in the Pakistan Super League.

Sharjeel and Latif have already given statements to the PCB's anti-corruption unit in Lahore amid allegations of spot-fixing.

"Today we have given them the charge sheet and now they are bound to respond to the charges within two weeks," PCB spokesman Amjad Bhatti told reporters in Lahore on Saturday.

Bhatti said if the players denied the charges the PCB will form a three-member tribunal, including a retired judge and a former cricketer, to hear the case.

A PCB disciplinary committee will decide on punishment if the charges are accepted by the players, Bhatti said.

The 27-year-old Sharjeel made his test debut against Australia in Sydney last month and has played 25 one-day internationals and 15 Twenty20s for Pakistan.

The 31-year-old Latif has represented Pakistan in five ODIs and 13 T20s. He hasn't played an ODI since 2010 but competed in a Twenty20 international against West Indies in Abu Dhai last year.

Last week, the PCB provisionally suspended both players, who represented Islamabad United in the PSL.

On Monday Britain's National Crime Authority arrested two men, one of them believed to be former Pakistan opening batsman Nasir Jamshed, before releasing them on bail in connection with alleged spot-fixing in the PSL.

The PCB also suspended Jamshed from playing any form of cricket.

Three more players - Islamabad United's Mohammad Irfan, Quetta Gladiators' Zulfiqar Babar and Karachi Kings' Shazaib Hassan - were questioned by the anti-corruption unit, but none of them were suspended. All three continue to play in the PSL, which is being held in the United Arab Emirates.