I went from hero to zero - Afridi

Former Pakistan captain Shahid
Afridi has claimed that he was
not part of the selection
meetings for the final two one-
dayers against West Indies in
May earlier this year, despite being captain. A series of sharp
comments made to the Pakistani
media over the past couple of
days seems to dispel any
possibility of a reconciliation -
speculation about which increased following the death of
his father last month - with the
cricket establishment. On his return from the
Caribbean, Afridi hinted at
differences with coach Waqar
Younis that sparked off a
controversy leading to Afridi's
removal as limited-overs captain and a legal battle with the
Pakistan board. Waqar's tour report of that
series confirmed Afridi had
walked out of a meeting over
differences relating to selection.
Pakistan lost the final two ODIs
and PCB chief Ijaz Butt defended the decision to remove Afridi
saying he wasn't "captaincy
material" in an interview last
month. "I did not take part in the
selection meeting on the eve of
the last two matches," Afridi told
reporters in Karachi on Monday.
"The team was selected by coach
Waqar Younis and Intikhab Alam and I had no input in the
selection of the playing eleven. "Everybody knows through the
manager's report that I wasn't
involved in selection because I
walked away from the meeting.
The chairman's comments were
really disappointing because the remarks he made don't suit his
stature. I was a hero for them
after the World Cup and
suddenly I became zero." Afridi said his dispute with the
PCB, which ended when he
agreed to plead guilty of
misconduct and paid a fine of 4.5
million rupees in exchange for
permission to play domestic Twenty20 cricket in England,
affected the team's momentum.
"I made many plans for the
team," Afridi said. "Misbah-ul-Haq,
Mohammad Hafeez and myself
were involved in devising many strategies but it was ruined
because of what happened
afterwards." Afridi, who retired "conditionally"
from international cricket after
his removal as captain, said he
would not go back on his decision
as long as the present regime of
the PCB remained in power. "I cannot play with people who
conspired against me and
worked against the team, they
have their personal interests
paramount to them and they
are only damaging the team. "I have always maintained that
playing for Pakistan is my
priority, I would always prefer
representing my country over
any offer from anywhere in the
world," he said.
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