Former Pak skipper Asif Iqbal slams Afridi's ball-tampering justification
Former Pak skipper Asif Iqbal slams Afridi's ball-tampering justification
Former Pakistan skipper Asif Iqbal was astounded by Shahid Afridi's justification for his ball-tampering act during the fifth and final one-day international against Australia in Perth yesterday.
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When MiD DAY informed Asif about Afridi saying he tampered with the ball (by biting it) because he was frustrated at not winning a game in Australia, the United Kingdom-based Pakistani great said, "Whatever justification or excuse, whatever term you want to use, cannot justify the act because in the laws of cricket, it is illegal. It doesn't matter if you did it because your team was losing or you wanted to help your bowlers. It's very unfortunate especially since he was captaining the side.
"He is so talented and you can see the (good) body language when the team is playing under him. All this was going his way. It is so foolish."
Afridi also said that it was the first time he had tampered with the ball and got caught while fast bowlers the world over have been fiddling with the ball and got away. His unsporting act came on the day when Iqbal Qasim quit as chief selector. Asif agreed with Qasim's decision. "The chairman of the selection committee has done the right thing because the team he picked didn't deliver as he would have liked to.
"I have great regards for Iqbal. He is a very honest and honourable person and I wish others in similar positions accept such responsibility," said Asif.
(With inputs from Majid Bhatti in Karachi)
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