By Imran Siddique
Karachi: The former Pakistan captain, Shahid Afridi has lashed out at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for handing over ‘A’ team’s captaincy to Salman Butt.
Salman Butt was banned for five years for his role in the 2010 spot fixing scandal. The left-handed batsman has been playing domestic cricket since the expiry of his suspension in 2015.
He was recently appointed captain of the Pakistan ‘A’ team which is scheduled to tour Zimbabwe next month.
Talking to media here on Tuesday, Shahid Afridi has termed Salman Butt’s appointment, as captain, a wrong precedent.
“I don’t have an issue with Salman Butt’s return to competitive cricket, but appointing him as captain is a wrong call”, Afridi said.
At a MoU signing ceremony between his Shahid Afridi Foundation and Deloitte PK, the swashbuckling all-rounder said to curb the menace of corruption, in cricket, the authorities must set stern examples for cricketers.
Shahid Afridi also touched upon his future plans in cricket, saying that he would be playing the upcoming Pakistan Super League (PSL), however he didn’t spell out his team for the third season of the league.
“I will play the upcoming PSL but my team will be cleared by October 5th”, Afridi said.
After the second PSL edition, Shahid Afridi parted ways with Peshawar Zalmi following two consecutive seasons and joined other franchise, Karachi Kings as their president.
Shahid Afridi paid rich tribute to the recently retired duo of Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq and also questioned the omission of Fawad Alam from the Pakistan test squad.
“In the absence of Younis and Misbah, the selectors should have included Fawad Alam in the squad. I don’t know why he is being continuously ignored”, Afridi concluded.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka are locking horns in a two-match Test series in the UAE with the first encounter starting from the 28th of this month in Abu Dhabi.