Politically motivated moves will hurt the game: Afridi
KARACHI: Pakistan’s senior all-rounder Shahid Afridi on Wednesday said that any politically-motivated decision could only damage team sports like cricket, hockey and football and the recent Indian Premier League auction fiasco could easily have been avoided had better sense prevailed with the organizers.
Speaking to Dawn exclusively from Adelaide, Afridi said he was deeply hurt by the IPL saga last week since it was totally against the spirit of the game.
“I am a great believer of the fact that sports breed harmony and peace among people and transcends all boundaries to provide pure joy to the masses,” said Afridi.
“What happened in the IPL auction should not have happened had the people responsible understood the basic message of sports and shunned the political differences to select the best players for their teams.”
“There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind about the tremendous potential of the Pakistan players in Twenty20 cricket and to stage such a league without them anywhere in the world makes no sense at all.”
He lamented the bad blood created between the people of Pakistan and India following the snubbing of players in the IPL and added that the franchises in India failed to realize the damage they could cause to the game by mixing politics with it.
“One step forward from them would see us going ten steps to make the event a success,” said Afridi. “It would not only had improved cross-border relations but had paved the way for future Pakistan-India series which is unarguably the greatest cricketing spectacle on earth. But unfortunately, there weren’t many sane voices among the organizers who could balance things in a good way.”
An optimist to the core, Afridi said he and many of his colleagues were ready to forgive and forget the recent incidents in India and keen to respond positively to any reconciliatory move by either the IPL organizers or the Indian cricket board (BCCI).
“Although most of us (players) are quite upset about the whole thing, it is not as if we have closed doors on any one,” said Afridi.
“If they (IPL franchises) show willingness to mend fences and come forward with a positive offer, we will reciprocate in the same manner because that’s how good neighbours should always behave.”
