Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt says that he was waiting for the managers report before taking any action against Shahid Afridi in his remarks against the team management. “Any decision taken will be on account of the manager’s report and any person, be it player or team official, he will have to go,” said Butt.
The PCB has also issued a show cause notice to Afridi for going public with internal matters of the team. He also made it clear that chief selector Mohsin Khan would not be spared if he was found to have made his views public regarding the issue of selection problems for the West Indies tour. Butt said while the existing selection system was not perfect, it suited Pakistan.
The selection policies of PCB have come under scrutiny after Mohsin Khan and Afridi have both expressed displeasure over the interference of Waqar in selection of tour squads and the final playing elevens. Butt also admitted that on some occasions he had differed with the national selectors and had used his constitutional powers as head of the board to make changes in the team.
He said presently the board had reserves of around 3.2 billion rupees even though Pakistan had not played any international series at home since 2009. Butt said if the Indian team tours Pakistan or play a bilateral series, the financial health of the PCB would improve further.
“A meeting in this regard is going to be held in June. As the Indian Prime Minister has given the green signal for the tour, I am very hopeful about it,” he stated. He said the tour would be possible this year if it was split into two phases with the Tests in Pakistan and T20 and ODIs at any neutral venue. He further claimed that he has successfully stemmed players’ power.
“To crush player power I penalised even prominent players like Younus Khan, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal without showing any reluctance which in the past had damaged the team spirit,” Butt said here.
He said the PCB introduced a number of new players in the side and took strict action against undisciplined seniors. He noted that in the past Afridi and Younus had also developed differences but he had made it clear to the duo that they would be dropped from the team if they did not mend their ways.
Afridi, Mohsin in the line of fire?
