Pakistan quick Shaheen Afridi’s rehabilitation following a knee injury, which kept him out of the Asia Cup, has been the subject of controversy over the last week.
Shaheen’s ligament injury to his right knee, which he sustained while touring Sri Lanka with the Test team in July, has kept him out of international action since. He missed the bus for the Asia Cup where Pakistan reached the final, but is said to be making significant progress, and has been named in the squad for the 2022 T20 World Cup.
Despite being out of the squad, Shaheen has travelled recently with the team, first on their tour to the Netherlands, and then with the Asia Cup contingent in the UAE. With on-tour rehabilitation not working out as planned, it was ultimately decided that Shaheen would travel to the UK to work on his recovery.
A controversy erupted following Shahid Afridi’s startling claim on a Pakistan TV channel, saying that the Pakistan Cricket Board was not covering costs for Shaheen’s rehabilitation in London.
“He’s gone to England on his own, paying for his own ticket,” Shahid told Samaa TV. “He’s stayed there with his own money. He contacted doctors themselves there – I arranged doctors for him from here. And they are doing everything. PCB is not doing anything.”
When asked by the anchor to confirm if Shaheen was taking care of his own rehabilitation, Shahid said: “Everything from coordination, to doctors to accommodation, he is doing it all on his own, from what I know so far. He might have spoken to Zakir Khan [director of cricket for international tours] once or twice, that is all.”
According to a report in ESPNcricinfo, Shahid’s claims are consistent with their own sources, with PCB reportedly telling Shaheen later that the expenses will be reimbursed.
PCB chairman Ramiz Raja, in a fan interaction on social media, called it an “unfortunate controversy” that should be laid to rest, claiming that the governing body had not “disowned” Shaheen. He indicated that there were hiccups regarding Shaheen’s travel.
“How can anyone even think that Shaheen Shah Afridi would be disowned, that too by his parent body?” Ramiz said. “It’s beyond understanding. It’s an unfortunate controversy. When Mohammad Rizwan was unwell at the [T20] World Cup [last year], who took care of him? Our panel of doctors spent sleepless nights getting him fit for the final. Similar with Fakhar Zaman’s rehabilitation, there’s a plan to it all. It could be that we missed having clarity on certain things. He [Shaheen] had to rush out of Dubai, but I think there was some ticketing issue. He was supposed to stay somewhere, but did not like the place, then he moved elsewhere.
“I want to clarify: for us, players are the most important stakeholders. You can ask anyone: what we are doing for players, no other cricket board has done. Not just Pakistan [international] players, first-class players, junior, pathway cricket – we are taking care of a 10-year-old, providing education free of cost, playing gear, 30,000 [rupees] per month, and the best coaches in the world.”
“We won’t leave a 10-year-old’s hand, let alone our [international] stars. Once and for all, this controversy should rest. We have our panel of doctors [to take care of him]. He [Shaheen] is our son, our matchwinner, there’s no question of isolating him like this”.
The controversy is unlikely to die down any time soon, with multiple sides of the story continuing to emerge. At least until Shaheen gets fit and returns to action.
