Wasim Akram: “If [the] PCB do not look after this kid, and if this is true (what Shahid Afridi said), then it is unfair”
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Pakistan pace icon Wasim Akram wants to find out if the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) didn’t look after injured fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi properly.
His comments come after newly-appointed interim chief selector Shahid Afridi claimed that Shaheen had to pay for all the expenses he incurred after travelling to England for rehabilitation after injuring his knee.
Shaheen hurt his knee during Pakistan’s Test tour of Sri Lanka in July and subsequently travelled to the UK for treatment.
However, Shahid alleged that the PCB didn’t provide any financial support to the 22-year-old.
He further claimed that he had a doctor contact Shaheen when he was in England.
Wasim noted that if all this is true, then it is “really shocking”.
“If this is true, this is really shocking,” he was quoted as saying by Cricwick. “If [the] PCB do not look after this kid, and if this is true (what Shahid Afridi said), then it is unfair.
“He should have straightaway been sent to the best knee surgeon in the world. But he is looking after all this himself, I am still shocked about it.”
However, former PCB chairman Ramiz Raja clarified everything as he made it clear that the board did not “disown” Afridi and called the whole incident an “unfortunate controversy”.
Shaheen injured the same knee again in the 2022 T20 World Cup final and was subsequently ruled out of the three-Test series against England, which Pakistan lost 3-0.
He was also not selected for the two-Test series against New Zealand, which started on Monday in Karachi.
Pakistan Squad for New Zealand Test Series: Babar Azam (capt), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Agha Salman, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Shahnawaz Dahani, Shan Masood and Zahid Mahmood
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