Sports

Afridi clashes with reporter over captaincy question

Pakistan T20I captain says Amir never lied to him and that's why he supported his comeback

Sports Desk January 06, 2016

PHOTO: AFP

Pakistan T20I captain Shahid Afridi had a verbal clash with the reporter while talking to the media just before a practice match at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.

According to Express News, a reporter asked the veteran all-rounder about how he can improve his captaincy in 2016, as it was the worst amongst top-eight T20I teams in terms of win-loss ratio. The angered Pakistan T20I captain replied with a sarcastic comment that he could have only expected that reporter to ask such a ‘low’ question.

After the media talk, Afridi went straight to the practice match, whereas reporters went to Pakistan team manager Intikhab Alam, and protested over Afridi’s behaviour, and asked for an apology from the Pakistan T20I captain.

Amir thanks Afridi for his support

Earlier, the 35-year-old said that Amir never lied to him, and that’s why he supported his comeback in the national team.

“When I met him [Amir] in England, he accepted his mistake the very first time, and then he remained quiet and never criticized the team,” said Afridi.

“When he accepted the mistake, completed his punishment, and now he is performing in competitive cricket, so it’s natural that he deserves a chance and that’s why I backed his selection.”

Afridi went on to say Salman Butt and Muhammad Asif’s case is different, and they should look at their own behaviour before thinking about representing Pakistan again. “Salman and Asif should look at themselves,” said Afridi.

“They lied to the whole nation for two-three years, and then they criticised Pakistan team on television sitting in different shows."

COMMENTS (22)

Effy | 8 years ago | Reply this shows how immature Afridi is

Adnan Siddiqi | 8 years ago | Reply @zahid: Agreed. And you know why he is supporting Amir? Just because he has seen Amir’s good performance in Bangladesh matches. So being a selfish man he needs him in his team so he could “win” coming T20 wc You would really have to give 21 gun salute to Afridi's judgement calls when it comes to banking upon the talent of certain players. He went out of his way to include Umar Akmal in the T20 matches against England recently sighting Akmal's "sheer talent" and "Power with the bat." We all know how Umar Akmal blew his gasket in UAE and did didly squat. So much for Afridi-the-talent-spotter.

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S!D | 8 years ago | Reply @SKN: You wouldn't have said this ONLY if you would have known what EQ is!

SKN | 8 years ago | Reply @Blithe: You too. Its IQ by the way.

Blithe | 8 years ago | Reply Afridi is not captaincy material - he has zero EQ

zahid | 8 years ago | Reply @Ch. Allah Daad: Agreed. And you know why he is supporting Amir? Just because he has seen Amir's good performance in Bangladesh matches. So being a selfish man he needs him in his team so he could "win" coming T20 wc. We have seen his attitude against Amir, Salman and Asif when they were in trouble.

Fuad | 8 years ago | Reply The level of unprofessionalism in the media industry is always witnessed at any news conference where 'journalists' try to outdo each other by intimidating their 'prey' to create a 'breaking news' ticker. Afridi became their latest victim.

Anees A. | 8 years ago | Reply Frankly, I don't see much wrong with the question. As a captain who is serving the nation, you are responsible to be questioned about team performance. What's wrong with that!!

SNKN | 8 years ago | Reply Afridi should be able to elaborate on his plan on how he envisions improvement on his current T20 record as a Captain!! It's a question on everyone's mind! The fact is that Afridi cannot take any criticism, positive or negative, and he has never been a true leader who could muster the team towards greater glory! To generate true team dynamics and team spirit above the ordinary, a leader has to set personal example and has to appeal to the emotional quotient of the team members. Afridi has failed time and again on both counts. He is hung up on self-glory - His posturing after taking a wicket says it all... Look at me!! He prefers players who kiss his hands.... that's not how you create winning combinations.

Abid Shah Mashwani | 8 years ago | Reply Before two historical events in Pakistan history: first Musharaf regime allowing establishment of many media channels and more freedom to media, second whole nation supporting to restore sacked CJ (turned out to be more corrupt later), and giving more power to Judiciary thus lawyers fraternity - it is a common knowledge that majority of the students choosing journalism and law school were less competent among their peers. Now same people are either senior judges/lawyers or senior anchor persons, so why people are surprised if judiciary (institutions like ECP led by judges) is corrupt or journalists are incompetent? what else do you expect? This new crop of smart lawyers and journalist will only display their color in next 10-20 years. Yes journalist may have phrased his question wrongly, but Afridi should have displayed decency by letting it go.

MSH | 8 years ago | Reply There was nothing wrong with question.The Afridi should exercise decency and calm when speaking to media. There is no hidden fact that his performance has been extremely disappointing in the field.Most of the time he has not been able to score more then even 5 runs.

Adeel Abbas | 8 years ago | Reply To me, it was a hard question rather than "low", Shahid Afridi should have shown some respect and could have avoided by "no comments". People should learn that they are answerable when they represent the nation. Hr is Very arrogant!

US CENTCOM | 8 years ago | Reply I think professional athletes have to be open to criticism by the fans and media. I’ve not seen the video footage and don’t know whether the reporter was insulting. But if the question was asked in a respectful manner then Afridi should’ve kept his cool in my opinion. Ali Khan Digital Engagement Team, USCENTCOM

Shuaib | 8 years ago | Reply Our reporters have no manners.

Ch. Allah Daad | 8 years ago | Reply Nothing strange. Cheap question to a cheap player. When Amir was committing crime, Afridi knew it but he didn't do anything to stop it. As a senior player and big brother, it was his duty to mentor a junior player. He is a selfish, rude and opportunist person.

SKN | 8 years ago | Reply The journalists need to bring in some ethical professionalism in to their work instead of protesting.

Hammad | 8 years ago | Reply These are the same reporters or channel who twist the story. Alia Rashid clearly mentioned that the reporter shouldn't have asked this question at the first place. However, the channel twisted her comments to show show Afridi low. This the same channel which shows indian songs during their news reporting....disgusting.....we should all stop watching this channel.

Shah(Berlin) | 8 years ago | Reply Excellent answer....you are a journalist ..you should know your limits and the most important part learn how to ask question...!!!

Pakhtun | 8 years ago | Reply On this behavior I demand an apology from media. Enough of media bullying

waqas | 8 years ago | Reply Now every journalist and newspaper will post this to blackmail afridi for apology. Afridi did nothing wrong, the question was in-decent.

Anam | 8 years ago | Reply Why even time these reporters blame Afridi for losing matches! Just check his last performance,!its enough for haters to shut their mouth! ISupportAfridi

Saad | 8 years ago | Reply Instead of protesting the media in this country needs to learn how to ask a question in a decent way, he could have asked how does he plan to improve his captaincy.

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