imagePakistan’s opening batsman Mohammad Hafeez who was approached to feature in ‘Chittagong Vikings’ in the Bangladesh premier league (BPL) has said that he is not willing to be part of disgraced ex-teammate Mohammad Amir’s side.

According to media reports Hafeez said, “I was approached by my agent to play for the Chittagong team but when I knew that Amir was also in that team so I refused it point blank. I have no personal issues with Amir or Chittagong; it’s my personal opinion that I can’t share the dressing room with someone who hurt my country’s integrity. If any other team makes me an offer then I will play the league and I have no problems facing Amir as I have played against him in the domestic matches but can’t be in the same team”.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shahryar Khan has said some senior players are against Amir and other two disgraced players Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif. The trio was caught in a spot-fixing scandal on Pakistan’s tour of England in 2010.

Hafeez is not ready to give his countryman any sympathy. “I had a lot of respect for all three before the incident as they were all talented but after the sordid episode I lost all respect because of their acts,” He added.

Hafeez further said, “We had to restore Pakistan team’s integrity, restore the confidence of the world because in 2010 there were talks of banning our team from international cricket. We had to suffer the taunts of the fans and after 2010 every act, every defeat and every mistake of ours was seen as suspicious, so we overcame that tough time and will not allow it to happen again”.

The BPL has signed around 16 top players from Pakistan and most of these players go to Bangladesh straight from Dubai after the T20 series against England. BPL has just started from November 22 and the final match of the event will be played on December 15.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2015

Comments

Comments are closed.