Pakistan’s cricket coach Waqar Younis has denied any rift with former captain Shahid Afridi and pointed out that he works within his limits.
Talking to journalists here at the Gaddafi Stadium after meeting the PCB chairman, he said that he never interfered with the captain’s affairs and he works within his own drawn boundaries. He said that he was disappointed with Afridi’s conditional retirement from international cricket.
“Afridi’s remarks that I intervened in his job is something surprising and its beyond understanding why Afridi said so,” he added.
Waqar said: “I have told what the chairman asked him and the meeting was held in a very healthy atmosphere and the next course of action would be decided by the board,” he maintained.
He also refused to compare Afridi and Misbahul Haq as captains. However, he said that Misbah has proved his worth as captain both in the West Indies and Ireland.
Earlier, on his arrival in Islamabad, Waqar said: “I am disappointed at his decision to retire. I don’t want to make too many comments before meeting PCB officials. There are no personal differences; we all play for Pakistan and I have only come to know about my differences with Afridi through the media and will not comment on them until I know what Afridi has said.”
Afridi’s outburst on Waqar’s interference on the team selection led to the sacking of Afridi from captaincy. But Waqar said that he had nothing to do with removal of Afridi from the captaincy.
“It’s not in my hand to appoint captains. The PCB chairman appoints the captain so you better ask him why the change was made,” Waqar said.
Afridi has faced disciplinary action for violating PCB’s code of conduct and they have terminated his central contract.
Waqar Younis, along with four other players, returned after completing West Indies and Ireland tour. The other four players who accompanied him include Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Umer Akmal and Wahab Riaz.
The national coach said that he has no information about the on-going battle between Afridi and the PCB as he was concentrating on the Ireland series and he cannot give his comments before meeting the board.
When was asked about the team’s performance in the recent Ireland series, Younis said that he is proud of the player’s performance and termed it as satisfactory.
Afridi quit international cricket on Monday, saying he was dejected after being replaced as one-day captain following a fiery clash with Waqar. Last month the PCB replaced Afridi as captain with Misbah-ul-Haq.
Afridi should look back at his stature as a player and captain before throwing mud on the great Waqar. Nothing can be taken away from Waqar's mark on the world Cricket by the careless and irresponsible statements of media pampered Afridi. If Afridi wants to be remembered better than merely an eccentric hard hitting batsman who could not grasp even the basics of the game he played for long 15 years at international level, he should learn to respect the game and its rules. His politicking on media will never earn him any respectable name in the annals of cricket history which will only show him as a below average cricketer what actually he is. Dear Shahid! Stop playing politics on the media and start playing cricket or even politics if you can not do away with it but only on the cricket ground. Good Luck
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