Adil Najam
Seems like everyone who should have been a role model is becoming a symbol of shame.
The most prominent “aalim” in the country is spreading jahalat. The President of the Republic is shouting obscenities. And our endeared sportsman is biting cricket balls to cheat his way to victory (which still alludes him). And all of this is just what we have been talking about the last three days!
Yes, that is exactly what he did. With Pakistan on a losing streak, having lost the first four one-day games and well on its way to losing the fifth, Shahid Afridi took the cricket ball and actually started biting it, even as the television camera was squarely focused on him doing so. And why would Shahid Afridi indulge in this illegal, and rather disgusting, form of ball tampering?
Here is his response, in his own words:
I shouldn’t have done it. It just happened. I was trying to help my bowlers and win a match, one match… There is no team in the world that doesn’t tamper with the ball. My methods were wrong. I am embarrassed, I shouldn’t have done it. I just wanted to win us a game but this was the wrong way to do it.
Is it just me or is he actually missing the point?
Read the statement again: “There is no team in the world that doesn’t tamper with the ball. My methods were wrong.”
What is he saying? That tampering is OK but his “methods” were wrong? Pray tell us, Sir, what would be the “right” method for tampering a cricket ball!
That Shahid Afridi, a cricketer so loved by the nation including at this blog, should do this makes the pain even more hurtful. Shahid Afridi has been slapped with a punishment of having to miss two 20-20 games. But, as blogger Teeth Maestro (where I first saw this video) argues, that is not enough and the Pakistan Cricket Board should itself look into the matter and provide sterner punishment.
Politics, media, and now sports. Let us please have some repercussions to bad behavior, somewhere!
Ban of 2 x T20 games is not enough, PCB should penalize him on this, he should be stripped of captaincy for good. I can’t believe it, he is completely mad. This is not the first time, he has tempered with the pitch at Faisalabad against England and we all forgot about it after he served out his ban. But this time round, he was the captain of the team.
The other day I was reading the Jaahil online article on Aamir Liaqut, I think Afridi’s Jihaalat is right up there. When you have Zardari as your president, Afridi as your cricket captain, Aamir Liaqut as a leading TV anchor, you know these are bad times.
This was a very sad incident for Pakistan cricket, and will continue to be a source of shame and a reason for suspicion in instances such as the abandoned test in England.
But most of all, I feel sorry for Afridi himself; even though they lost, his captaincy seemed to have injected a much-needed dose of fighting spirit into the team. It is sad that he marred this accomplishment by that ridiculous act.
“There is no team in the world that doesn’t tamper with the ball. My methods were wrong.”
I am not condoning unfair tactics, but this is certainly true and has been echoed, although much more tactfully, by Imran Khan, Ian Botham, Wasim Akram, etc.
Also, I don’t think anyone, even those who love Shahid Afridi, considers him to be a role model, and I don’t think he attempts to project that image.
Hey guys, don’t be too tough on the skipper, he obviously missed the tea break ,was starving , and thought the ball was a big orange, thats how I peel mine when I don’t have an knife, don’t you?
better than back biting
but what a reckless thing to do
was he sharpening his teeth?
did the umpire reprimand him for it?
may be he thought it was an apple
or may be he didnt have a crown cork in his pocket like
immi lala in his oxford days
hus sain
What a shame!!!! And Fauzia I think you dont know cricket… Next time you should comment on political blog. And tell me what do you mean by Mr 10%….