The outspoken Sohail deposed before the Ehtasab (accountability) Bureau that Akram was one of the ``main characters'' for match-fixing in the Pakistan team alongwith veteran batsmen Salim Malik and Ijaz Ahmed, The Nation reported today quoting sources in the Bureau.

Sohail also promised that he would provide details of properties and assets of these players, which were not in keeping with their known sources of income, the paper said.

Sohail made these allegations yesterday before the government bureau which is probing allegations that Pakistan players were engaged in `objectionable activities' during their World Cup campaign. Akram, who is in England, could not be reached for his comments on Sohail's allegations.

Sohail ``disclosed the names of the key players who are notonly the friends of the bookie, but are also regular casino visitors when on official tour abroad,'' the report quoted bureau sources as saying.

The sources, according to the report, said ``an Indian bookie is a friend of Wasim Akram and he (the bookie) always stays in the same hotel where the Pakistani team stays on a foreign tour.''

Asked about the modus operandi, Sohail, whose exit last year resulted in Akram's reinstatement as skipper and having played together for around five years, told the Bureau that players made gestures from the ground and received messages in a similar manner from the stands.

Signals such as asking for water and helmet, waving the bat in the air, waving hand in the air with the gloves on or off, feigning injury and other body movements were the mode of communicating with the bookies during a match, Sohail reportedly told the bureau.

The Bureau, headed by Saif-ur-Rehman, close friend of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has assigned intelligence agencies to verify informationprovided by Sohail to enable completion of the inquiry fast.

The Ehtesab Bureau is also awaiting the report of the one-man Judicial Commission probing allegations of betting and match-fixing. Akram had earlier been named in an interim report following an inquiry into match-fixing by Pakistan Cricket Board before the judicial panel headed by Lahore high court Judge Malik Mohammad Qayyum took over the investigation.