A leading Pakistani daily on Sunday said the evidence against the tainted trio "seems damning" and slammed Pakistan envoy to Britain giving them a clean chit on "remarkably dodgy grounds".
In an editorial, the
Dawn newspaper said many in this country are being made to believe
that the Pakistani cricketers were set up in a conspiracy designed to malign the nation.
It said Pakistan capitain Salman Butt, Mohd Amir and Mohd Asif who face spot-fixing allegations, remain innocent until they are proven guilty, "even if the evidence at hand seems damning".
"It should be remembered that they are accused of serious crimes and their innocence cannot be taken for granted," the daily said.
The daily said Pakistan's High Commissioner Wajid S Hasan personally "gave the trio a clean slate on remarkably dodgy grounds".
Hasan accused the ICC of trying to play to the public gallery and held that it had no business to impose the suspension order against them.
In an article in The News, former Pakistan captain Asif Iqbal said the "weight of the evidence (against the three players) is heavy and therefore the accusations have to be taken very seriously".
There are some sections of the media in Pakistan that are trying to establish anti-Pakistan bias but this sense of patriotism is "entirely misplaced" and they are not doing either Pakistan or Pakistan cricket any favours, he said.
On Shahid Afridi's public apology over the controversy, former captain Imran Khan felt that this may have been prompted by the cricketer having been privy to certain developments.