Every time Pakistan lost a match in the 1990s, people thought the game was fixed: Mudassar Nazar

Former all-rounder Mudassar Nazar has opened up on the pressure the Pakistan cricket team faced in the 1990s. According to Mudassar, the Pakistan side of that era was as talented as Australia but was under constant scrutiny since every loss was looked at with suspicion in the wake of match-fixing allegations.

Pakistan won the ODI World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand in 1992 under the inspired captaincy of Imran Khan. In the preceding years, they were lethal in Test cricket as well, with Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis wreaking havoc with the ball. The mid and late 90s, though, saw the team going through many ups and downs and the team continues to remain inconsistent to this day.

Speaking at the Cricket Predicta Conclave, Mudassar reflected on the Pakistan team of the 1990s and recalled how they played under the constant fear of extreme backlash over a defeat, especially against arch-rivals India. The 68-year-old said (as quoted by PTI)

"I think if you look at Pakistan's team in the 90s, they were, talent wise, as good as Australia in the 90s. But it was a sheer fear factor of losing the game, and I'm going to be a little bit controversial here.

"The controversy is behind match fixing. There was a lot of pressure on the Pakistan team because every time they lost a game, people thought the game was dubious, the game was fixed. Nobody was prepared to accept that they actually lost to a better team," he added.

"So, at some stage in the early 90s, I was part of that team which was fearful of losing the game, and that was entirely due to match fixing or fear of people believing the match was fixed," the former Pakistan cricketer elaborated.

In the 1990s, India and Pakistan met in the ODI World Cup thrice, with the Men in Blue emerging victorious on all three occasions. Mudassar admitted that neither side wanted to lose against the other because of the intense scrutiny of the India vs Pakistan cricket matches.

"No Pakistani, no Indian, wanted to lose the game. We've seen that in Sharjah and that's why India versus Pakistan here was such a big event. That wasn't the case with the cricket, but with the general public probably. There was a lot of pressure there. Unfortunately, the match-fixing saga took its toll on Pakistan team," Mudassar recalled.

In the wake of some shocking match-fixing allegations that emerged in the 1990s, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) set up a judicial commission to probe the claims. Subsequently, former captain Salim Malik got a life ban for match-fixing and fast bowler pacer Ata-ur-Rehman for perjury.

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Mudassar Nazar's record for Pakistan

Having made his international debut in 1976, Mudassar went on to become a crucial member of the Pakistan side for the next decade, making important contributions with both bat and ball.

The 68-year-old featured in 76 Test matches, scoring 4,114 runs at an average of 38.09, with 10 hundreds and 17 half-centuries. With his medium pace, he picked up 66 scalps. The all-rounder also played 122 ODIs, scoring 2,653 runs and claiming 111 wickets.