Having already trousered a £10,000 upfront deposit – which he insisted had gone to the stars – Majeed sat in our west London hotel room at the Copthorne Tara on Wednesday night and eagerly counted out the £140,000 balance in bundles of crisp £50 notes – our “entry ticket” into his already successful betting scam.

Our undercover team was posing as front men for a Far East gambling cartel. In return for their suitcase of money Majeed then calmly detailed what would happen – and when – on the field of play next day, as a taster of all the lucrative information he could supply in future.

He promised: “I’m going to give you three no-balls to prove to you firstly that this is what’s happening. They’ve all been organised, okay?

“This is EXACTLY what’s going to happen, you’re going to SEE these three things happen. I’m telling you, if you play this right you’re going to make a lot of money, believe me!”

“It is a golden opportunity for me to prove myself, especially under Shahid Afridi who understands my strengths,” Sami said in an interview on Tuesday.

“I am lucky and delighted to be back in the national fold,” he added.

Sami, who was originally among the reserves for the World T20, was included in the 15-member squad after injury to fast bowler Umar Gul.

“I have really worked very hard to improve my bowling in all brands of cricket after being out of Pakistan team for nearly two years,” said Sami.

“I have developed variety in my bowling and am keen to help the country in retaining their title,” he remarked.

“During the training camp in Lahore, the boys played as a unit which said
was a great sign ahead of such a mega event,” said Sami who is only among the two world bowlers to have performed a hat-trick in Test and One-day Internationals, he said.

“There will be some pressure on me as I will be playing my first T20 game during the global competition. But I know the conditions in the Caribbean because of my past experiences and it will benefit me and team,” 29-year-old Sami admitted.

“Despite some pressures, I am quite capable of adjusting to the faster version of the game. I got to bowl four good overs for the team,” he maintained.

He said he had previously played under the show of Shoaib Akhtar but this time he with Mohammad Aamir will lead the attack.

However, he said T20 is highly unpredictable version of the game and even a slight error could prove decisive while each and every player of the team have to contribute to the success of the team.

Sami felt that Pakistan team were a bunch of talented, young and aspiring cricketers coupled with experienced players like himself, Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal to guide them through the event.

According to Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary Asif, Pakistan captain Zeeshan Ashraf, Waseem Ahmad and Akhtar Ali have requested him that they want to skip the forthcoming event.

Sources, however, told Dawn.com that the three players along with Rehan Butt and Sohail Abbas were asked by Asif to take rest, suggesting they should make a request to the PHF that they were interested in playing only at major events.

While Waseem, Zeeshan and Akhtar, agreed, Sohail and Rehan have opted to join the Azlan Shah Cup training camp. Initially, even Rehan was reluctant to join the camp on the instructions of Asif, but later changed his mind when Sohail took a firm decision to report for training against the wishes of the PHF secretary.

In the present Pakistan hockey scenario, the claims by the PHF that players have requested for rest are obviously illogical since all the players including the seniors are willing to prove their mettle to be included in important assignments – Commonwealth Games and Asian Games later this year.

Sources say as PHF had apprehensions that some senior players including Waseem, Zeeshan and Akhtar might be dropped when the selection committee announces the squad for Azlan Shah Cup, it decided to ask the seniors to request for “rest.”

The PHF has asked the players to skip the camp because the top national players who have star status would have created a storm against Asif in case of being axed for Azlan Shah Cup. In the backdrop of a campaign by Olympians against Asif after Pakistan’s 12th place finish at World Cup, the decision of asking the senior players was the only option available to avoid more animosity and hostility.

Chief selector Hanif Khan, however, opted to remain tight-lipped on players’ decision, saying he cannot comment on the future of the three players who had opted to stay away from the camp.

“At the moment, I cannot say anything about the three players. I can’t say they will or will not be in the future squads. I am focused on Azlan Shah Cup right now and will think about future assignments when the time comes,” said Hanif.

The present circumstances, however, suggest some more theories. As now at least three experienced players are out of probables’ list, PHF might take a new-look squad to Ipoh, Malaysia, for Azlan Shah Cup. If the team performs miserably as it is being expected, then the PHF would have a perfect pretext that it is owing to absence of some senior players. But if the team fares well because of some reason, the PHF would once again have a reason to give the three seniors “permanent rest.”

Pakistan hockey manager-cum-coach Khwaja Junaid says the players must have taken the right decision considering their physical fitness and fatigue.

“I believe their decision is absolutely right as they must have considered the state of their bodies. They are better judges of their physical fitness. They can better tell whether they are really fatigued,” Junaid told Dawn.com on Thursday.

However, the coach said the three players had plenty of hockey and a bright future ahead.

“I think they are very good players and they must play hockey in future as they still can play international hockey and perform well if they want,” he said.

Nevertheless, PHF might have averted a revolt by some senior players by asking them to take rest; it still has the thorny issue of captaincy to face. As both Rehan and Sohail are now in the camp, they will be in contention for the captaincy in absence of Zeeshan. Traditionally speaking, if both make it to the final squad, then being most senior, Sohail should be an automatic choice for the captaincy, although Rehan is believed to have all out support from Asif.

According to Junaid, except three all the camp trainees including Rehan and Sohail have reported. The three players Shakeel Abbasi, Muhammad Irfan and Zaheer Ahmad, will report either late Thursday night or Friday morning.

The Azlan Shah Cup training camp starts from Friday at Hockey Club of Pakistan, while the selection committee is likely to announce the squad on April 28.

Yasir had shocked Aqeel in the semi-final of the first Sindh Open ranking event of the year held at the Defence Club in January.

The final was also a repeat of Pakistan Open held at the Creek Club in July last year which Aqeel won 6-3, 6-4 to earn a purse of Rs100,000. Yasir had made it to the then maiden final of a national event of his career after upsetting Nomi Qamar 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in the semis.

Aqeel ended up with a double crown as together with Jalil the pair beat Imran Shoukat and Saif Noor Sumar 6-2, 6-2 to win men’s doubles.

The ladies singles title went to Islamabad’s Sara Mansoor who tamed Maheen Dada 6-0, 6-1 in the final.

Promising Mustafa Zaidi picked up his second juniors’ under-17 title of the year when he edged past Hamza Pataudi 6-4, 6-0 in the final.

Another talented player Talha Zubair Surmawala captured the boys’ under-15 crown by getting the better of Shahbaz Fayyaz 8-6 in the title clash.

Maheen Dada, Jalaluddin Babar and Houd Azher claimed the under-13, under-11 and under-9 titles respectively.

Aqeel received a winning purse of Rs17,000 and winner’s trophy from sponsor Aqueel Hassan, the CEO of a fast food chain. Yasir fetched Rs8,000 and runner up trophy.

The ladies singles champion took home Rs7,000 while runner up got Rs3,000.

Results:

Boys’ under-9 singles final:
Houd Azher bt Mohammad Dada 8-2.

Boys’ under-11 singles final:
Jalaluddin Babar (Mirpurkhas) bt Nazif Ahmed 8-5.

Boys’ and girls under-13 singles final:
Maheen Dada bt Azher A. Qadir 8-6.

Boys’ under-15 singles final:
Talha Zubair Surmawala bt Shahbaz Fayyaz 8-6.

Juniors’ under-17 singles final: Mustafa Zaidi bt Hamza Pataudi 6-4, 6-0.
Men’s doubles final: Aqeel Khan and Jalil Khan bt Imran Shoukat and Saif Noor Sumar 6-2, 6-2.
Ladies singles final: Sara Mansoor (Islamabad) bt Maheen Dada 6-0, 6-1.
Men’s singles final: Aqeel Khan bt Yasir Khan 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.