PCB issues Afridi show-cause notice

KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday issued a show-cause notice to all-rounder Shahid Afridi for interacting with the media without ‘prior permission’.

A PCB official confirmed that the board has sought an explanation from the veteran all-rounder for his statements given to media on his return from Bangladesh after crashing out of World Twenty20 at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi last week.

Talking to the media Afridi had slammed his teammates for poor performances and blamed batsmen for the defeat against West Indies.
He had said that he would accept the captaincy as a challenge, if offered.
Later, Mohammad Hafeez resigned as the Pakistan Twenty20 captain.
The official claimed that the PCB has not yet received Afridi’s reply.
Sethi says Afridi may have been pushed by media for statement
Commenting on the issue, PCB Chairman Najam Sethi said, “had I been in place of Shahid Afridi, I would not have spoken to media. But he would have been forced to do that at the same time as the media would have huddled him.”

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“I don’t know whether Shahid Afridi was granted permission to talk to media or not,” said Sethi.
“If any cricketer has come up with a negative statement in media, I should be concerned and not the media,” he added.
Afridi replies
According to sources, Afridi has replied to the show-cause notice that he had received by saying that he was merely responding to a question posed by a reporter and that later his reply was taken out of context. He added that he had no obsession with captaincy.