Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has refused to be drawn into a new dispute with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ijaz Butt for the moment, but has not ruled out a tit-for-tat response to Butt's accusations.
Butt has opted to re-ignite a dispute that rocked Pakistan cricket last month by accusing Afridi of playing a negative role during the national team's one-day series against West Indies earlier this summer.In an interview this week, Butt also accused Afridi of using political pressure to avoid punishment at the hand of the PCB after 'violating' its code of conduct.
Afridi, who is currently featuring prominently in Hampshire's title campaign in the Friends T-20 event, said that he does not "even want to think" about Butt and the PCB at the moment.
"I'm enjoying my cricket and won't allow anybody to spoil it for me," The News quoted Afridi, who has won Man-of-the-match awards in three of the six matches he has played for Hampshire so far, as saying from Southampton.
However, he did not rule out a tit-for-tat response to Butt's accusations.
"Let me see what they are saying against me, and then I'm going to decide whether there is a need to give my side of the story to my fellow countrymen," he said.
Following Afridi's sudden retirement and his harsh words against the PCB in the wake of his removal as Pakistan's one-day international (ODI skipper) by the board, the PCB had suspended his central contract and revoked all No Objection Certificates (NOCs) issued to him, which meant he was unable to represent Hampshire in the Twenty20 competition.
The PCB also formed a four-member disciplinary committee for hearing a disciplinary case against Afridi from June 8.
Afridi filed a petition at the Sindh High Court, protesting against the PCB's decision to suspend his central contract and revoke his NOCs, which prevented him from playing abroad.
However, the matter ended in a whimper after Afridi attended a detailed PCB disciplinary committee's hearing of over three hours, following which the PCB issued NOC to Afridi along with a fine of 4.5 million rupees for breaching various clauses of the central contract. ANI
