Afridi admits misconduct charges

Former Pakistan skipper admits charges in the hope of playing English county cricket this season.

Afridi
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Afridi announced his international retirement from cricket earlier this week [AFP]

Former Pakistan one-day captain Shahid Afridi has pleaded guilty to a charge of misconduct by the Pakistan Cricket Board.

A PCB spokesman said Afridi accepted the charges following his criticism of its officials while announcing his international retirement from cricket on Monday.

Afridi had his central contract suspended by the PCB on Tuesday.

That move came after the 31-year-old was stripped of the Pakistan one-day captaincy last month following a disagreement with coach Waqar Younis.

The PCB has also revoked all no-objection certificates (NOCs) for the player, meaning Afridi, who was widely praised for his role in leading Pakistan to the semi-finals of the recent World Cup in the subcontinent, will not be officially permitted to play overseas.

English hopes

It is suggested that Afridi has pleaded guilty to the PCB charges within a day in the hope of having the NOCs restored so he can play for Hampshire in the English Twenty20 championship.

Afridi had also been due to play in the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League in July.

He had criticised the current PCB set-up, headed by chairman Ijaz Butt, and accused the administration of mistreating the players.

Afridi said he’d been “humiliated” by a board of “dishonourable people,” for whom he couldn’t represent.

He also lashed out at Waqar for undue meddling in team selection.

“Everyone should do his job and must be held accountable for that.”

Shahid Afridi

“Everyone should do his job and must be held accountable for that,” Afridi said, without naming anyone, on his return from the West Indies where he led the team to a 3-2 one-day series victory last month.

When asked about his dispute with Waqar, Afridi replied: “The differences are not at a stage where they cannot be solved.”

Afridi withdrew from Pakistan’s latest matches, a one-day series against Ireland which finished in a 2-0 win on Monday, to visit his ailing father in the United States.

Hampshire ‘disappointed’

English county cricket club Hampshire released a statement expressing their disappointment that Afridi would be unable to play for them.

“It is with regret that Hampshire Cricket announces that Shahid Afridi – the Royals’ overseas signing for the Friends Life t20 competition – will not be available to play in tonight’s match against the Somerset Sabres at The Rose Bowl,” said a Hampshire statement on Wednesday.

“It follows the decision by the Pakistan Cricket Board to revoke their No Objection Certificate, thus withdrawing their consent for Shahid to take part in the competition.

“The club would like to make it clear that although we respect this decision we have been, and continue to, urge the PCB to rethink this matter, and we are keen to have Shahid playing for the Royals at some point in the season.

Afridi rose to prominence in just his second ODI when he slammed the world’s fastest ODI century – off 37 balls – against Sri Lanka at Nairobi.

His aggressiveness suited the shorter versions of the game, as he ranked third in Pakistan history for ODIs played (320) and wickets (313) with his fastish legspin bowling. He ranked sixth in runs (6,658) with 289 sixes – the most hit by any batsman in the world.

Afridi played 27 Tests before retiring from the longer version of the game last year during the series against Australia after scoring 1,716 runs that included five centuries.

Source: News Agencies