Pak cricketer Ijaz Ahmed gets bail

Ijaz Ahmed, the former Pakistan batsman, was freed on bail on Tuesday ahead of his trial for fraud charges. Ijaz was arrested in March for allegedly issuing false cheques to a client and he was relieved to get bail after spending six weeks in jail.

A case had been registered against Ijaz Ahmed for issuing two bogus cheques of Rs10m and Rs0.5m respectively to two local property dealersSenior lawyer Ashtar Ausaf has moved the bail application before the LHC on behalf of Ijaz.

“We will now follow the case as I am in the right and will fight until my name is cleared,” Ijaz told AFP. “The last three months have been nightmarish. The PCB was supportive as they believed my innocence and did not disturb my job [at the Pakistan cricket academy]. I am thankful to them for supporting me.”

Ijaz had pleaded his innocence and said he would take the accusers to court. He was arrested on March 26, but was taken to hospital after suffering a bout of asthma and breathing problems

Ijaz played 60 Tests and 250 ODIs and was a member of the Pakistan team that won the 1992 World Cup. Following his retirement from international cricket, he had been working as the fielding coach of the national team for the last few months. He was earlier on the selection committee and had also served as senior coach at the National Cricket Academy.