Decision to drop Azhar Ali from ODI team wasn’t the wise one: Shahid Afridi

Former captain of the Pakistan cricket team Shahid Afridi is not in favour of the decision of dropping Azhar Ali from the Pakistan cricket team for the series against the West Indies. Pakistan’s selection committee on Wednesday dropped Azhar Ali from the One-Day International squad for the tour against the Caribbean which Afridi believes would send a bad message to the other players in the team.

The former all-rounder also pointed out that this kind of behaviour often creates distances between the players and the board. The big hitter told the journalists of Karachi that Azhar, who was the captain of the Pakistan ODI team needed to be treated respectfully like all other players.

Afridi quoted “Firstly, I support Azhar’s decision to step aside from captaincy, it was a wise decision. But, I believe that the PCB should have allowed Azhar to make the announcement himself, instead of issuing a press release before letting Azhar say anything on this”

“I also feel that the decision to drop Azhar Ali from ODI team wasn’t the wise one. He was the captain and deserved the respect like other players. Any decision, without mutual respect, could create differences between board and player”

According to the former great, Pakistan would have a tough time against the West Indies as he feels beating the Caribbean is not an easy task. Afridi also had his say on the ongoing investigation of the spot-fixing scandal in the PSL which led to the suspension of Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif and Mohammad Irfan.

“If a player knows that he can return to team after serving five years of ban, then he wouldn’t have any fear. I have always said that a life ban should be imposed on any form of corrupt activity in Cricket”

“Every player is repeatedly told by the anti-corruption unit of board that they should inform immediately about any approaches, yet if some players are delaying or not reporting the approach then they are guilty according to the laws”