Pakistan

Waqar bears no grudge against Afridi

Waqar Younis sad to hear the former captain had decided to retire.

Reuters June 02, 2011

KARACHI: Pakistan cricket coach Waqar Younis does not harbour a grudge against Shahid Afridi and said he was sad to hear the former captain had decided to retire.

Afridi announced his retirement from international cricket this week after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) removed him as captain for the one-day series against Ireland.

The PCB were unhappy about Afridi's comments concerning perceived interference in his role during the tour of West Indies, where a dispute with Waqar came to a head.

"I am sad that he decided to retire," Waqar told reporters at Lahore airport after returning with the national team from Ireland. "I don't know why he took such a decision. But I have no personal grudge with him.

"I have only seen all this stuff in the media. I will be meeting with the board chairman to discuss the tour reports.

"But whatever has happened is not good for Pakistan cricket, which is progressing well despite us getting no international cricket at home."

Pakistan won the ODI series against West Indies with Afridi at the helm and drew the test series under senior batsman Misbah-ul-Haq. They also beat Ireland in two ODIs with Misbah as captain.

Afridi faces disciplinary action for violating the PCB's code of conduct and they have terminated his contract.

COMMENTS (2)

RizwanTKhan | 13 years ago | Reply Smart move by Waqar but we know what kind of person he is. Not that I favor Afridi but waqar needs to go.

Hassan Farooqi | 13 years ago | Reply Why does Waqar has to clarify it when Afridi himself has made it clear that his differences with Waqar were strategic, and not personal. We know the problem was that Afridi, who was the captain of ODIs only, wanted to win the series 5-0 and wanted to maintain the winning combination. On the other hand Waqar was the coach for test series as well, and wanted to experiment since the ODI was already won 3-0. Waqar's shoulder is being used to gun down Afridi against whom Ilyas and Intikhab has a personal grudge. No, Waqar is not the bad guy here, the trio of Ilyas, Intikhab, and Butt is.

Replying to X