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Pakistan's High Commissioner to Britain Wajid Shamsul Hasan said on Thursday that the three Pakistani cricketers at the centre of illegal betting allegations are innocent. The Pakistan cricket team is in the midst of a betting scam, where fast bowlers Mohammad Aamir and Mohammad Asif are alleged to have bowled pre-arranged no-balls in the Lord's Test against England. Pakistan today dropped Test skipper Salman Butt, fast bowlers Asif and Aamir from the Twenty20 and one-day series against England under pressure from the ICC and England Cricket Board. Hasan said that Butt and bowlers Amir and Asif had declared their innocence and vowed to fight the allegations. "The three players have said that they are extremely disturbed by what has happened in the past week, especially in regard of their alleged involvement in the crime," The Nation quoted Hasan, as saying. "They mentioned that they are entirely innocent in the whole episode and shall defend their innocence as such," he said. Hasan said the trio had requested to be withdrawn from Pakistan's remaining fixtures on their tour of England due to the "mental torture" they had suffered since the scandal broke.

Pak cricketers at centre of illegal betting allegations are innocent: Hasan