I didn’t blow whistle on 2010 scandal: Afridi

Former captain Shahid Afridi Sunday said that he did not blow the whistle on the spot-fixing scandal that rocked world cricket during Pakistan’s tour of England in 2010.

Having discussed in detail about the spot-fixing scandal inhis autobiography ‘Game Changer’, Afridi insisted he did not pass on theinformation or messages to the tabloid ‘News pf the World’ which eventuallybroke the story.

   

“These players (Salman Butt, Muhammad Asif and MuhammadAamir) still think that Lala (Afridi) blew the whistle about them to thenewspaper that is not true. It was one of my friends in England who passed onthe information without informing me and even after that the newspaper carried outits own investigation and sting operation to confirm and trap theplayers,” Afridi said on a news channel.

Afridi said his former team-mate Abdul Razzaq had firsttalked about the involvement of some players with fixers when the team wasplaying the World T20 in West Indies in 2010.

“Razzaq kept on telling me after one match against SriLanka that he had doubts about Salman Butt but I did not believe him at thattime. I said they are like our younger brothers. Later on as fate would have ita damaged mobile which went to a repair shop and whose owner knew my friend inEngland revealed messages that surprised me and made me suspect that theseplayers were indeed spot-fixing matches,” he said.

Afridi, who retired from international cricket in 2016, saidhe was hurt and disappointed when Butt’s involvement in the scandal wasconfirmed as he liked him a lot.

He also maintained when he first saw the messages aboutButt, Asif and Aamir, he could not sleep for few days and did not have thecourage to share it with Razzaq who realised something was wrong.

Asked why he did not confront Butt and the other playersabout the messages, Afridi said he was let down by the reaction of the teammanagement including Waqar Younis and Yawar Saeed when he first showed them themessages.

“It was disappointing for me. My first job was toinform the management, I did that they said ‘beta kya karsakta hai ab (son,what we can do now)’. That is also why I gave up Test cricket and the captaincy and returned home.”

He conceded that the management did try to warn the playersnot to meet or mix up with suspicious characters like Mazhar Majeed who wasalso eventually jailed for his role in the spot-fixing scandal. Afridi alsorevealed why he had supported the comeback of Aamir to the Pakistan team afterhe completed his ban.”When the ‘News of the World’ broke thestory and I had returned to England for the limited over matches, I confrontedthe three players and told them to admit if they had done it as we could helpthem. Butt kept on denying and even took oath he had done nothing wrong. Incontrast, the first time I confronted Aamir he came to me and admitted he hadmade a big mistake. He also confessed in court,” Afridi said. 

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