PCB should ban Afridi for one full season
If there was any humiliation left for Pakistan in their current tour of Australia, their newly appointed Captain Shahid Afridi earned it for them by tampering the ball in broad day light in front of 26 cameras.
It would be naive of anyone to believe that a player who has played international cricket for 13 years and has played 293 Odi’s would just put the ball in his mouth and gnaw on it and expect that 26 cameras won’t catch him.
This is not the first time he has been caught, in past he has received bans for scuffing the pitch and shoving a bat on a spectator’s face, he can’t be oblivious of the consequences.
Then why did he do it? What was he thinking?
Some might like to believe that he desperately wanted to win the match for Pakistan? And some might think that it was a rare moment of stupidity for him.
There were 26 cameras on the field and I am not that naive to accept that Afridi even for a moment thought that he would not get caught. He gnawed on the ball multiple times until he got caught. He knew the ICC rules and must have known all along that the ball will immediately get replaced once the camera catches him. So the logic that he did it because he was desperate to win is more stupid than his act of gnawing on the ball.
Was it a moment of extreme frustration and stupidity? I don’t think so, Afridi never does or say anything without having a clear objective.
But if he did it out of mere frustration then only God can save Pakistan cricket from him because each time Pakistan will be on a verge of losing a match while playing under him, he will either scuff the pitch, temper the ball or might even shoot an opposition player out of frustration.
I think Afridi tried to embarrass Rana and Asif in front of the whole world. Pakistani bowlers failed to generate any reverse swing throughout this tour, Afridi sarcastically put the ball in his mouth and handed over to Rana and must have told him “may be now you can reverse it.”
Or, I was wondering what the bookmakers be willing to pay him if they wanted him not to play the next T20 match. In past they have paid up to $300,000 to a player for pulling out of a match which the bookmakers had already fixed. Afridi has been a key member of the T20 team, I don’t think Pakistan could have won a single T20 match in recent years without his bowling, if he drops out of a match the whole combination of Pakistan’s T20 team gets destroyed.
But I strongly believe that he did it to insult Pakistani bowlers.
PCB should hold an inquiry and should ban him for at least one full season and they should think twice before handing him over the captaincy of a Pakistan team in future. He has damaged the reputation of Pakistan team and from now on whenever our bowlers will reverse the ball they will always get suspected of foul play. This is an unpardonable crime and should not go unpunished. He has given the world a message that Pakistan bowlers can’t reverse the ball without cheating and our team can’t beat Australia unless they cheat.
Afridi knows that his fans love him blindly and would forgive and forget even if he commits a murder, I don’t think if there is any other cricketer in the world who has such a huge die-hard fan base, this fact alone has emboldened him to an extent that he did not care for a second before tampering the ball and damaging the reputation of Pakistan cricket team.
He committed this offence at a time when his biggest critics were also supporting him to be the captain of Pakistan team, not only he has disrespected and disappointed his fans who have shown so much faith in him and have supported him blindly throughout his career but has also tarnished his own reputation by this act of stupidity.
As always he has been quick to apologize but I don’t think that an opology is enough in this case.
PCB should ban him for at least one full season so that no one in future should dare to commit such an offence.
The fact he did it whilst his bowler was looking on, in the full face of him and, disgusted expression aside, he didn’t so much as twitch … is just awful.
The fact that, from what I recall (albeit a little vaguely) is that the bowlers did start zipping it around better afterwards, is just horrifying.
The fact that this is also submerging a terrible foul-up of security and might cause the officials responsible to escape proper censure…
I know that all sorts of players around the world have done it, and Stani Army in particular has a post up decrying ‘preferential treatment’ for other countries but … CHEW the ball in front of crowd and cameras, right behind the umpire’s turned-away back? You are right, he couldn’t have expected to get away with this. It is a very interesting though I hadn’t considered before, but it makes a lot of sense.
The idea this was a bird flipped at his bowlers out of frustration fits the picture very well, particularly when done right in front of Rana.
Nathan
I don’t care what other sides get away with, ball tampering has always been a very senistive issue for Pakistanis after the oval fiasco, our bowlers whenever they reverse are suspected of foul play, Afridi’s act in future will provide credence to such allegations and suspicions.
Rana and Asif they should have refused to bowl but I guess they had no choice but to bowl as nowhere in the history of sports a player has ever reported his own skipper of foul play during a game to a refree or an umpire.
Take a look at this video and you will notice that both Rana and Asif had their heads down in disgust while he was biting the ball.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvuap5_0bqk
I suppose it would be easy to demand a protestation from the two bowlers from here but actually going and pointing the finger at your skipper … well, if they had done it, would they ever be trusted within the team again?
On the other hand, if they had stepped up, would that have more-or-less exempted Pakistani bowling and reverse swing from this stain?
Nathan
Of course that was the right thing to do, they should have at least refused to bowl.
But I guess neither of them showed the courage or presence of mind to do the right thing.
If anything in my opinion that ball biting incident had a negative effect on the bowlers the first incident happened at the end of Asif’s last over (43rd over) he was not going to benefit from it anyways, the second one happened in the 47th over and the ball was immediately changed. In between three overs were bowled out of which two were bowled by Malik and Rao both bowlers can’t reverse the ball at all no matter what the condition of the ball is. Only Rana Naved bowled one over in which he could have benefitted from this whole drama.
The bowlers were doing a fine job in controlling the run rate and were taking wickets at regular intervals before the first incident, they didn’t needed this it was only Afridi’s brilliant Idea.
Other than destroying his own reputation and his team mates he gained nothing from it.
Wasim
“from now on whenever our bowlers will reverse the ball they will always get suspected of foul play.”
Absolutely. Remember the problems Gul had when Vettori accused him? What made it worse is that Afridi then said everyone does it. This is just like saying ‘we have always done it’. What stupidity.
Also, I studied body language and Rana and Asif’s body language shows clearly that they know exactly what is going on and agree with it. They look at him, they know what he is doing, then look down and carry on as if nothing has happened.
Nathan
Do you not think Broad/England got ‘preferential treatment’? I condemned Afridi and I also said his ban was light.
Was, your views are biased and very harshly written. OK he tampered extravagantly. But perhaps this was done deliberately to show that the ICC are racist and biased because other sides intentions i.e. England were similar but yet they got away with it despite being caught conclusively and evidently. Although in my opinion Afridi’s actions were totally beyond genuine acceptance, it was no different to other sides which shows the ICC are biased and racist. You should be writing about that rather than slamming Afridi. Why shall we be the laughing stock of world cricket that takes the blame for everything ?
In my opinion ball tampering was only made illegal because other teams couldn’t face it Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. Reverse swing is an art which needs to be used in the game for competition and entertainment. As Dean Jones says its equivalent to a batsmen nicking it and not walking. Imran Khan tampered but he wasn’t the only one. He was the only one that could use it so effectively that’s why it became a height of controversy because of his ethnicity.
Stani
Uptill 43rd over the bowlers were doing fine there was no need for it they took seven wickets without tampering the ball and Australia still required 51 runs. It was Asif’s last over and he had only few balls left I don’t think he had anything to do with it. Of course Rana and Asif were not going to complain against their own captain all they could only put their heads down in shame and bowl. This is is the un written rule of any sport you just don’t go and complain against your own team mate no matter what.
When Sachin scratched the seam of the ball or when Dravid applied lozenges on one side of the ball or when Broad pressed the ball under his spikes or when English bowlers were applying mint on one side of the ball they didn’t do it just for the heck of it obviously they had informed their bowlers of what they had done otherwise it defeats the purpose of that illegal act.
Obviously whenever a player gets caught in the act of tampering his team mates know about what he is doing but the law only punishes the guy who is caught in the act there is no law which states that you have to report your team mate if he is tampering the ball. It doesn’t sound classy or ethical but then again Afridi did it openly he knew the consequences he was not pretending like many others neither did he made any story like some of the other international players he admitted that he wanted to win the match by hook or crook and that is what other players who were caught tried to do but didn’t had the courage to accept it.
I am upset at Afridi because there was no need for it, even if we had won, it would have been far more disgraceful than a loss. Asif and Rao have never reversed the ball they don’t have the pace and the right action for it, Rana can reverse the ball but since Afridi did it so openly the ball got immediately changed, and he might have known that all along, so what was the purpose of the whole exercise?
How many deliveries Rana was able to bowl with that tampered ball? In fact when the second ball got changed it was nine overs old and it got again changed to the liking of Australian batsmen as per rules.
The Indians as always are making a lot of hue and cry about it how can they ever leave an opportunity to take a swipe at Pakistan it would be highly un Indian. But funnily when Dravid got caught red handed while applying lozenges on one side of the ball they made an excuse that his lozenge fell accidently out of his mouth on the ball, but if you see the video it’s quite conclusive the Indians at that time like always used the race card and played innocent victims, Dravid only got fined for 50% of the match fee. If you see the pictures of that ball one side is stained yellow and that all happened because the lozenge fell accidentally on the ball.
Every body is ignoring a key fact here that Afridi did it openly he knew he might get a ban for a few matches but nothing more than that . His act was disgraceful and against the spirit of the game but I think it was a lessor crime then those who secretly tried to step on the ball or tried to apply sticky substances on one side of the ball and then claimed innocence, those players and those teams were no angels, in fact they were more morally bankrupt.
I am only demanding a harsher punishment for Afridi because he has done an irrepairable damage to Pakistan team’s reputation in an effort to show the world what a smart ass he is but too bad he didn’t succeeded and ended up making a fool of himself and earned a bad reputaion for his team.
Maz
I don’t think my views were harsh or biased. Like every one else I was only speculating Afridi’s motives, You would agree that his actions have caused an irrepairable damage to the reputaion of our bowlers and the team in general, What did we gained out of it? Even if we had won the match it would have been much more disgraceful than a loss.
I didn’t wanted to do any comparison with other teams but got sucked into it but still if others do it and don’t get punished that doesn’t justify our actions. Ball tampering is against the spirit of the game and illegal and nothing would have disgusted me more if we had won this match because of ball tampering.
It’s not easy to reverse the ball these days especially when the ball is changed after 35 overs. You need at least one or two bowlers who can hit the ball hard on the deck to make one side rough, bowlers with the pace of Rana, Rao and Asif can’t do that even if they try they would end up giving too many runs in in initial overs. Aamer, Gul or Sami could have done that they have the pace and they know how to bowl short with out leaking too many runs. This is the main reason Pakistan have not been able to reverse the ball in the Odi series they could never manage the ball. And Gul’s lack of form also didn’t helped us whenever he tried to bowl short the Aussies punished him.
How is ICC biased and racist? The others did it subtely and still only a few got away with it, Afridi put the ball in his mouth twice and chewed on it there was no way he was going to get away with it. I don’t see any bias here. If you are referring toward Broad’s case then one must remember that SA didn’t lodged a complaint.
We should not worry about others we should only keep our own house in order, Afridi’s action was foolish and was totally un required and didn’t do any service to Pakistan cricket.
I
Wasim, you are clearly not a “real” Pakistani supporter because you think it is Ok we become the laughing stock of world cricket. Right ?
It’s about time ball tampering becomes legalised. It’s a skill and challenge, not a scientific invincibility by any means. It’s simply an art which should be acknowledged.
I think everyone is reading too much into it. Afridi ball tampers and the ICC gives him a two match ban. Yes, it might be lenient, but that’s up to the ICC and not us. Why he did it - just wanted to win, simple. He did not do it to embarass bowlers - there was no clever plan here, he just did it in the heat of the moment like 2005. Do you really think he would risk being captain (of ODI and T20 and even possibly tests eventually) by making a plan like this/ being paid off? No chance.
Ball tampering should not be legalised. You legalise ball tampering and you will throw away what the game of cricket is all about - pure skill and class. If you legalise ball tampering, anyone who is half decent will start to pick up wickets. What will be the motivation for those who have the potential to be great when they know all Tom, Dick and Harrry have to do is scratch one side of the ball to achieve the same thing. What will happen to spinners? And finally, what will happen to the game of cricket? Will people want to watch Test and ODI cricket if they see more lower scores and slower run rates?
To reinstate the balance between bat and ball, other rules such as one bouncer per over should be changed.
Wasim - ball tampering is illegal. So what if SA did not complain? If Broad/Anderson were suspected of ball tampering, an investigation should be conducted by the ICC at their discretion, not SA’s. Did England complain against Pakistan in 2006?
The PCB should discipline Afridi by imposing a hefty fine.
Maz
I think you meant to say I am not a supporter of cheaters and frauds, if thats what you meant yes I don’t approve people who cheat even if they belong to my own country. You play cricket at a higher level so you should understand the spirit of cricket or any sports competition. Ball tampering is not an art and should not be legalized as if it is allowed every tom dick and harry would start reversing the ball. Reverse swing is an art and you need a higher skill level and proper conditions for that, unfortunately the current crop of bowlers do not possess those advanced skills. Without managing the ball (legally) and without having proper speed and action you can’t reverse it.
I am disappointed that at such young age you believe that winning the competiton by cheating is fine and might provide you the same satisfaction and sense of pride if you do it the hard way.
For me winning and losing are part of the game, winning is important but not that important that you go against the spirit of the game. Because that would be just like living in a fools paradise and having a false satisfaction.
123
Didn’t he jeopardized his captaincy and reputation by tampering the ball anyways, so what difference would it made if he got paid for it?
He already insulted the bowlers, you might not see it but from now on whenever our bowlers will reverse everybody will look at them with suspicion I won’t be surprised if the ball gets changed more frequently.
It’s a lame excuse he did it just to win the match, so what’s next shoot an opposition player. Just in case we had won don’t you think that such a win would have been considered more disgraceful than a loss. What was the point in even attempting to win in such a manner, it would have carried no value only shame and dishonor. But if you are right and he did it just to win the match then he is the most stupidest player I have ever seen who couldn’t foresee all the consequences and had no value for winning with honor and dignity or the spirit of the game. I don’t think he is mature enough to lead our team.
Nothing predicts behaviour like behaviour, if that is true then a person who can break one law can also break the other laws i.e match fixing.
This has been our main problem, we want these guys to play with integrity and professionalism but when they break any law or display rogue behavior we protect them and then in the end we blame every thing on poor management. You can’t have both sides of the coin.
I ask both you and Maz if one of the Australian had done this and had won the match what would you be feeling right now.
As regards SA not complaining that was necessary to reopen the case as the umpires didn’t picked it up during the match.
Wasim,
Put yourself in Afridi’s shoes. You’re 29. You’ve been playing cricket for 13 years and finally your performances with bat and ball are very good. There is support arising for you to captain ODI and maybe Tests and you are already T20 captain.
Are you telling me that in this situation, you would bite the ball just so you could get paid a few hundred thousand?? THINK - if he was paid to bite the ball, do you not think that he would have thought of the risks - losing support from fans like you, losing captaincy maybe, maybe a very harsh ban like 1 yr, money from playing international matches, will domestic and IPL sides ever want him? There are way too many risks of doing this and so that’s why it was instinct. Also, if he was paid, what was the use of doing around 45 overs. Why not 35 so Pakistan won - thats what he wanted remember? Thats why this is clearly instinct and not planned.
How can he do it to embarass bowlers? Yes, people may think that there is ball tampering because Pakistan are reversing it, but if he planned it, do you not think he has embarrased himself and his reputation more?? Who looks worse right now or even in 1 month’s time against England? Rana/Afridi? Gul/Afridi? Rao/Afridi? Asif/Afridi? Rana/Afridi? It will always be Afridi who is more embarassed than anyone else because he did it simple as that.
Yes a win would have been more disgraceful and shameful and thats exactly why the ball tampering wasn’t planned, it was just in the heat of the moment.
Right then, if I ball tamper that means I match fix? You might be missing out mass murder? Drugs? You just carry on… This shows you have no faith with the ICC to prevent/deal with match fixing….
Tell me how have I protected Afridi? I’ll say it again. Afridi ball tampered and got a 2 match ban. Simple. In my eyes, it has been dealt with. I have even said he should be imposed a “HEFTY fine”.
If Australia had done it and for example Ponting or someone received a 2 match ban, I’ll say it for the third time, the ICC has dealt with it. Simple. Just like the ICC is dealing with the spectator incident. That spectator could have been carrying a pocket knife…
I don’t care if the umpires didn’t pick up the Eng incident vs SA. If a law is broken, it should be investigated. Its absolutely as simple as that - just like your favourite example of match fixing.
Maz,
The difficulty in legalising tampering is where do you draw the line of what is permitted and what is not. Even if you do come up with a solution e.g. bowlers can use their finger nails only, people will still try other illegal ways to tamper it in order to gain an advantage. Then how far will they be able to go until the batsman requests a ball change and is granted one because of the poor condition of the ball? Even if they legalise it, it will just look wrong. Can you imagine a bowler picking at the ball in open view. Look how bad Afridi looked doing what he did. It just looks like cheating, legal or not.
Wasim,
Even though a complaint was not lodged in the case of Broad, the ICC should still have acted since the evidence was so clear. I think in Afridis case, it was first seen on tv by the 3rd umpire and then reported. The 3rd umpire in the SA v Eng game could and should have done the same thing.
AHBD/123
Didn’t he jeopardized his captaincy and reputation by tampering the ball anyways, so what difference would it made if he got paid for it?
Did Hansie Conje, Saleem Malik, Wasim Akram, Azhar Ud din and Warne cared about their captaincy when they got involved in illegal acts?
It’s not easy to uncover such dealings for ICC we can only speculate from circumstantial evidence.
You are ignoring the fact that if he had taken money it would have been a secret transaction and would have not landed him in any more trouble than the ball tampering incident.
In either case he would have gotten punished for only ball tampering case as nobody can prove match fixing these days, ICC needs conclusive proof before they even accuse anybody. But does it mean that match fixing has stopped?
I don’t think so.
I was only speculating the cause behind his action.
Not saying that I am absolutely certain. We both can argue only on the basis of logic and circumstantial evidence.
On one hand you are absolutely sure that he did it just to win the match but then you yourself say that if he wanted to win the match he should have done it around 35th over. You are contradicting yourself here.
If it was instinctive he would have done it once, he did it again after 4 overs because the umpires didn’t caught him the first time so in other words he made sure that he gets caught. The first instance was in 43rd over and the second in 47th over where the third umpire prompted the change of ball.
How did he not insulted the bowlers, If I was one of his bowlers I would have thrown the ball back on his face, it clearly implies that our bowlers can’t reverse the ball on their own, how can anyone see it not insulting for the bowlers.
Already people are demanding a punishment for Asif and Rana even though they had no input in his decision.
Now for a moment if he did it instinctively then do you think he is the right person to lead our team? Didn’t he caused such a huge embarrassment to the team and the nation? Was he trying to prove that how aggressive he is? I think somebody needs to explain the definition of aggression to him. He lasted only four balls on the crease was that aggression? Brainless aggression is suicidal.
If it was another one of his brainless acts then we will definitely see more of it in future. He commits the act first and repents later. Is this the kind of maturity we were looking for in our Captain?
“Khaya piya kuch nahin glass tora aath anay”.
The kind of politician he has been in the last three years I don’t think his action had such a simple motive behind it as he portrays.
As regards Broads case yes he should have been banned but he escaped punishment because of procedural flaws and not because of racism as we might like to believe. The same way as Asif and Akhtar escaped punishment because of procedural flaws in their first drug abuse trial. Some teams also get preferential treatment because of the clout they have in ICC, I don’t think it has anything to do with racism.
The Aussie spectator incident is over rated, spectators have been invading the cricket grounds since the game started, it was wrong and caused a huge embarrassment for the Aussies and I think they have acknowledged it. So lets leave it there.
Afridi got a 2 match ban according to the prevailing law, but Pakistan team will bear the consequences for many years to come just for this fact alone I want the him to get punished severely.
Stani
The third umpire didn’t picked it up, it happened early on day three and was reported to the match refree on day four, procedural requirement was that SA had to fill up some forms to make the complaint official but they didn’t as a result he escaped from punishment.
If they had filled the forms I am sure Broad would not have escaped punishment.It’s a legal loop hole. Now why the third umpire couldn’t pick it up as and when it happened that is questionable.
Wasim, I am not the only one who feel thats ball tampering should become legalised.
The ICC clearly use double standards against Pakistan and we as strong people should not have to put up with it.
Afridi and Imran Khan have said ball tampering was done by them BUT they were not the only ones !!
Its not cheating. A good batsmen should be able to encounter such reverse swing in todays one dimensional game.
Stani, let bowlers do what they want with the ball
.
It can’t get any more lethal than facing Waqar Younis in his prime.
They (ICC) don’t have the guts to pick on other sides. Hence, Stuart Broad got away with it. Evidence of using double standards.
Maz
First of all players from almost every country got punished for this crime. Yes broad got away with it but only because of a procedural flaw, just like Shoaib and Asif got away with drug abuse the first time. Broad should have been punished and the laws should be changed so that no pplayer can claim that it was an innocent mistake, if there is compelling evidence no matter what that team should get penalized.
It’s true that players from most of the cricket playing nations have done it but that doesn’t mean it should be legalized in fact the law should be made even more stricter instead of the player the whole team should get penalized, instead of legalizing ball tampering I think the compulsory ball change rule after 35 overs should be changed to make the competition more fair between bat and ball.
If ball tampering is made legal then imagine an ordinary bowler with no reverse swing skills will also swing the ball like Wasim, Waqar and Mcgrath and thats not fair with bowlers who acquire the genuine skill.
Lets not make excuses to defend an illegal act because it will further humiliate us, and you should remember one thing that Afridi himself never had any intention to hide it or conceal it.
Maz
If we let them do what they want, they’ll start eating it….woops, that’s already happened hasn’t it?
“If ball tampering is made legal then imagine an ordinary bowler with no reverse swing skills will also swing the ball like Wasim, Waqar and Mcgrath and thats not fair with bowlers who acquire the genuine skill”.
Flat track bullies are made to like geniuses with the bat.
And u Wasim r wrong I’m afraid. It’s not a scientific invincibility, plenty of skill and pace is required in order to accomplish it effectively.
Therefore, not anyone can reverse swing it
Wasim, with Broad the umpires could still have laid charges themselves after having it drawn to their attention, even if they didn’t notice it at the time.
Maza
You are ignoring the tracks which help the bowlers and make life miserable for the batsmen, your focus is just on flat tracks.
In International cricket if not all most of the bowlers will be able to reverse it if they are allowed to tamper it.
Jonathan
The on field umpires missed it completely at first and yes you are right after they reviewed the tapes they could have laid charges but until then the matter was already brought to the attention of match refree and everybody was waiting for SA’s official complaint.
After the press conference the south Africans had to fill some forms to lodge an official complaint only then the match refree could have officially looked into the matter.I don’t know why they didn’t lodged an official complaint, maybe because they were in a strong position or may be some back channel diplomacy between the two boards or the teams prevented them from further pursuing their complaint.