ISLAMABAD: Three former cricketers have favoured the inclusion of Shahid Afridi in the Pakistan team purely as a leg-spinner in the upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka but stuck to their earlier comments that the all-rounder has past his prime as an explosive batsman.
Shoaib Akhtar, Muhammad Yousuf and Sikandar Bakht were responding to Afridi's adverse comments against them on his return from the tour of South Africa where Pakistan won their first ever ODI series against the Proteas while drawing the T20 rubber 1-1.
Afridi took four wickets in the two T20s and scored only 13 runs while grabbing three wickets and scoring 37 runs with an average of 18.5 in the two ODIs he played out of three.
Middle order batsman Muhammad Yousuf while talking to a private TV channel over the comments of Afridi that sparked a new controversy, said the career of Shahid Khan Afridi was in the last phase so whatever he said should be ignored.
Yousuf said the personal and professional life of a player should be distinguished and the personal matters of any player should not be discussed as Afridi did.
He said he had criticized the leg-spinner over his poor batting show against the Proteas, adding that the all-rounder didn't know how to bat.
Yousuf advised the youngsters not to follow Afridi otherwise their career would be destroyed.
It is pertinent to mention that former captain Shahid Afridi on Monday declared the former players criticizing him and the team as Heckle, Jeckle and Mr. Bean.
"Heckle, Jeckle and Mr Bean are commenting on the television channels as if the team never lost a match when they were playing," Afridi said while talking to reporters on arrival from South Africa.
He was referring to the comments of former skipper Muhammad Yousuf and speedster Shoaib Akhtar on private TV channels saying that he was fully aware of the discipline of these players.
Former Test cricketer Sikandar Bakht while responding to Afridi's comments, said the leg-spinner should not be taken seriously.
He said when he had advocated for Afridi to be made as captain, the all-rounder sent a message of thanks to him.
Former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has termed Shahid Afridi immature saying he had always supported Afridi to be the part of the team, but unfortunately the all-rounder has not got mature enough.
Rawalpindi Express said the critics discussed only those things happening in the ground, however, players wanted to get praised even when they were not performing.
He said he had also criticized the national skipper Misbah-ul-Haq but he responded in a gentle manner saying that he respected the former players' opinions.
Shoaib further responded that he was also dropped from the team when either he was unfit or not performing up to the mark.
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