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PCB administrators are disgraceful people: Afridi
Flamboyant Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi, who announced his decision to quit international cricket in protest against being stripped of captaincy of the national one-day team, said he will not consider returning till the present board, under the chairmanship of Ijaz Butt, is in place.
"The people have given me lot of respect and love, and I don't want to waste that working with this board, who don't know how to respect players," an angry Afridi said.
In a scathing attack on the Pakistan cricket Board, Afridi, 31, described the current set of administrators as "disgraceful people".
Afridi told Geo News channel nothing is greater to him than his self-respect.
'They sacked me without hearing me out'
"I want to make it clear that till this board is there I will not play international cricket. When it goes, and if people want me to play on, I will consider a comeback."
However, Afridi said he will continue playing in domestic and league matches.
"I will continue to play domestic and league cricket, but not international cricket. It is not worth my while under this board, which gave me no reason, nor did it bother to hear me out, before sacking me as captain," he said.
"I don't want to work with such disgraceful people. I don't know on what grounds they sacked me as captain.
"I worked hard on building up a broken team and turned it into a fighting combination. We played in the World Cup semi-final and yet they sacked me without hearing me out."
'The board never gave me a feeling of assurance'
Afridi was sacked as ODI captain despite Pakistan's 3-2 success against the West Indies.
Though the board did not any give official reason for the removal, many believed it was because of growing differences Afridi had with coach Waqar Younis over matters of selection.
Afridi also claimed there was a group of people belonging to the Punjab province in Lahore who were always against him.
"This group has always kept on working against me. They are the ones who keep on filling the chairman's ears against me. Maybe, they don't want me to play, because I get in the way of their plans."
He also alleged that, as captain, he was never consulted in selection of teams, and unsure about his captaincy before a series till the last moment.
"This board never gave me a feeling of assurance that I would be captain. I would not know before a series until the last few days whether I was going to be captain; I can't continue to play under these circumstances."
Afridi had ruffled the board's feathers
Afridi also made it clear that he spoke with some of his elders and seniors before deciding to retire, and they supported him.
It was after returning from the West Indies that Afridi ruffled PCB feathers when he told the media he did not like people interfering in his work. It was an obvious reference to a row with head coach Waqar over selection issues.
After issuing him a notice for speaking to the media on team issues in contravention of the players code of conduct, the board, while announcing the squad for the one-day series against Ireland, replaced Afridi as captain with Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who on Monday led Pakistan to a 2-0 win over Ireland.
'What I said is for betterment of the team'
After being sacked as captain Afridi pulled out of the series against Ireland, telling the board he wanted to stay with his ailing father, who is under treatment in the United States. But he reached England from the US, and announced his retirement there.
He also defended his statement, saying he only spoke the truth and nothing else.
"I didn't speak against anyone nor did I criticise anyone by name. What I said was for the betterment of the team. But if they don't want me to speak the truth, then I can't accept working with such people," he said.
"I didn't want any problem. What I said was keeping in mind the benefits of the team. I can't continue to play under a board that does not respect senior players," he added.
Afridi retired from Test cricket last year after Pakistan lost the first Test to Australia at Lord's.
In the 325 ODIs he played, Afridi scored 6695 runs, at an average of 23.49, but a staggering strike rate of 113.82. He also bagged 315 wickets, at an average of 34.22.
He holds the record of the fastest ODI century, off 37 balls.
In 43 T20s, he aggregated 683 runs and claimed 53 scalps.
He played 27 Tests, scoring 1716 runs (avg 36.51) and garnered 48 wickets (avg 35.50).