Pakistan cricket board and Shahid Afridi’s statements leaked
From Kamran Akmal’s woeful wicket-keeping at the Sydney cricket ground, afridi’s ball gnawing act to Umar Akmal’s feigning an injury to save his brother – a plethora of allegations have taken the PCB’s front yard in a whirlwind. Captain Afridi openly stated that the prolonged inquiry needs to reach a conclusion as soon as possible. Otherwise, the delay would be “damaging for the players and the team”. Throwing a spanner in the works for the PCB committee is the leakage of the inquiry videos to a private television outlet. With Pakistan’s test captaincy in a limbo, senior players tackling a host of bans, and the return of international cricket to Pakistan unlikely, the situation has gone out of hand. So much so, that even Pakistan’s controversy scarred cricket has been surprised to the core. The following is an exclusive transcript of the conversation between the members of the PCB probe committee and the T20 captain Shahid Khan Afridi.
Members of the probe committee
Wazir Ali Khoja, Wasim Bari, Yawar Saeed, Zakir Khan
Afridi on poor performance in Australia
I was not part of the team that toured New Zealand, in Australia i felt that there was no cohesion in the team and many players were eyeing the captaincy.
I also think that the captain has to lead from the front, like when Inzamam was the captain, he rarely dived on the field, but when he did it inspired the entire team.
The body language of captain is very crucial; captain should be able to make decisions himself instead of banking on others, which is why I could not see anyone leading the side with authority.
Other then that i believe getting things done from this team is not that difficult, they only need proper guidance and motivation, as they are immensely talented and committed, and if efforts are made to keep them as a unit, the will definitely perform.
As far as fielding is concerned, if you look at our fielding drills they were really good, but some of our batsman after batting they think their job is done and do not concentrate on the field, as they are busy interacting with fans and signing autographs,
the decisive factor is the intentions of player, players should be sincere with each other, and let go of little things, and also should cooperating amongst them, this will solve a lot of problems, as I mentioned earlier there is no lack of talent, with proper direction the team should do fine.
I always like to take Inzamam ul Haq’s captaincy as an example as he kept his self respect intact, he gave everyone their due respect, and knew how to get things done, if you look at all the matches we have played since the 2009 T20 world cup, take any series be it Sri Lanka, New Zealand or Australia, we were not beaten, but we lost them, the reason for that is lack of mental strength, players in their minds of the match even before stepping on to the field.
Our coach Mr. Intikhab Alam, has been a major factor in demoralizing the team, in the fifth ODI against Australia, I was told only 40 minutes before the match that I will be leading the team, and even before I went for the toss, our coach started saying you really have to win the toss, if you lose the toss we will lose the match, as we will not be able to chase, I stopped him in the middle and said these statements are not healthy for team morale.
Without proof one so hold not doubt any player, so I have no doubts on any players, I have also heard about match fixing from here and there just like you have.
The team needs some discipline, I have had several tours with Mr. Yawar Saeed, and he knows how to implement discipline in the team, if strict measures are implemented din the team, there should be no such problems, and secondly please solve the captaincy issue, whoever you think is the right man for the job should be made captain, and not on tour basis, but for a good tenure, as far as Muhammad Yousuf is concerned, he lacked the power to make decisions, he used to put it on others most of the times, there were some incidents in Australia which should not have taken place.
I told Yousuf that Khalid Lateef has been in good form and he deserves to be in the team, but i also said that it is you decision as you are the one who has to lead the side on the field, but he said his place is not justified in the side, and I left the decision on him, but in the team meeting Yousuf said the final team is not only my decision, it also includes input from various senior players. The captain should own up to his decisions, rather than pointing finger at others, in one instance he called Shaoib Malik to his room and said it is not only I who dropped you but other players also had input in it.
In the 5th ODI, I was told 40 minutes before the match that I will be leading the side, where as i had specifically told the manager to tell me a day in advance as i needed to make my game plan, and select my team, i wanted to play Shaoib Malik as he was down, and he is a good player who needed some confidence, on which Waqar Younis and Mr. Raqeeb also backed me, but Yousuf got upset and sent me a message from the dressing room that he wants to play, and I decided now if he plays i will not be a part of the team. As it is utterly unprofessional, it’s an international match not a joke.
These incidents took place in a 4 member meeting,
Shaoib Malik when he was captain, wanted several players out of the team, such as myself, Shaoib Akhter and Muhammad Yousuf, i said it on his face that Shaoib if you want to remain in the team, please leave out all the politics, and if I become the captain i will not tolerate these things. I said if I become the captain you (Shoaib Malik) and Muhammad Yousuf are both the same to me, and I would want 2 of you to resolve your problems,
I was not part of the bunch of players that went to Inzamam's house, I talked to him 10-12 days ago on phone, i have not been to his house in more than 2 years.
Afridi on Ball-Biting:
I have already apologised to the nation on my acts, I was ashamed and even asked my father to pardon me, the thing is that I was frustrated at our continuing defeats, and was determined to win one for the nation. It was an act of madness, and I found it difficult to even go for prayers.
I feel as cricketers it is our responsibility to bring smiles on the faces of our countrymen.
I want to add that many former players have agreed that ball tampering is prevalent in international cricket, it is just that my way of doing it was crude and I was caught.
Afridi on Captaincy
I have not asked for captaincy, but I want to add here that what I did in Perth (ball biting) will remain unforgettable, my daughters were also teasing me and eating apples like I bit the ball, none the less I want to reiterate that I was determined to win that is why I took the extreme measure.
On hearing by ICC match referee after the Perth match
I accepted what i had done, but did not mention match fixing taking place all over the world, to the referee, he wanted to show me the footage, but I refused, and accepted my punishment.
I conclude that I should be shot if I do this again!
Afridi on leakage of stories to the press
I accept that players have their links and they leak stories to media, which only tarnishes their reputation and harms the game, yet at times the board itself leaks the stories.
The board needs to clear up its act, before blaming the players.
The meeting concludes with Afridi saying that "my father's tears are sufficient to guard me against repeating my acts in Perth ever again"
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