Afridi, Younis boycott PCB annual awards

LAHORE: Former cricketers Shahid Afridi and Younis Khan on Thursday did not attend an awards ceremony being hosted by the Pakistan Cricket Board. 

The annual awards of the PCB were held in Lahore and attended by former cricketers Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar and Waqar Younis. The award ceremony was also attended by members of World XI team who are currently touring Pakistan.

PCB has awarded the media rights for the event exclusively to a private sports channel superseding the state-owned PTV Sports and other channels. It is also unusual that sports channels are given the rights to broadcast award ceremonies.

ARY News sports correspondent Shahid Hashmi revealed that Afridi was due to be awarded a farewell reception when he attended the first match of the Independence Cup against the World XI team.

However, Afridi was told that a farewell reception will be provided if he attends the awards ceremony, which speaks for the treatment of national heroes who should be lauded for their contribution to cricket.

Younis Khan had already announced to boycott the farewell ceremony saying that it was unnecessary as he had retired four months earlier. He also said that he cannot forget what he had gone through in the PCB when he was a player.

Former cricketer Tanveer Ahmed said that it was not unusual that there is a rocky relationship between the cricket board and top players. However, the attitude towards players is a mockery and shows that dismal direction in which the cricket board is being held.

He said the cricket will prosper if the PCB chairman Najam Sethi takes the board forward along with the players, which is more important than the Pakistan Super League or other international series. He also decried that the media rights were issued to just one channel.