Nasir Jamshed, who was looking forward to his release on October 21, finds himself in a position where he might be deported back to Pakistan. The Pakistani opener was sentenced to 17 months in prison in February for his involvement is spot-fixing in Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and Pakistan Super League (PSL). The anti-corruption unit has also banned Nasir Jamshed from cricket for ten years.
Nasir has now received a notification of intention to deport and been told he would be further detained. As it stands, he plans to appeal this decision and apply for bail on October 21.
Even before the trial began, Nasir Jamshed was in England on a spousal visa as his wife, Samara Afzal, was born in England. It was due for a renewal in February 2019. But with a court decision impending it was decided to put off a renewal decision until the case was decided.
Key to the outcome may be Jamshed’s decision to initially plead not guilty to the corruption charges. Those close to him claim this was because neither he nor his barrister were aware of the contents of a recording of a conversation between Jamshed, his accomplices, and an undercover police officer, which effectively condemned him. Once the recording was played in court, Jamshed changed his plea to guilty.
By then, though, the trial had gone into a sixth day. As a consequence, there was little leniency applied in sentencing. Legal experts are of the view that, had Jamshed made a guilty plea in the first instance, he could have expected a sentence of under 12 months. And, with UK law stating that any non-citizen who receives a prison sentence of more than 12 months is liable for deportation, the repercussions of that decision were significant.
Nasir Jamshed will learn about his fate next week. It is highly possible that he will be deported back to Pakistan and will fight the case from here.
