Ex-Pakistan Captain Salman Butt's Stern Take On Shahid Afridi's "PCB Hasn't Done Anything" For Shaheen Comment
Notably, Shaheen toured with the team for the ODI series against Netherlands. He was then ruled out of the Asia Cup, but accompanied the team, as a part of his rehab, for the tournament.
Former captain Shahid Afridi claimed that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is not taking care of their star pacer Shaheen Afridi in his rehabilitation process. Shaheen, who has been named in Pakistan's T20 World Cup squad, left the team from UAE to go to England for treatment and recovery for a knee injury he had suffered during the Test series against Sri Lanka. However, PCB chief Ramiz Raja came out to deny that the board had "disowned" Shaheen, saying that it is unthinkable that the board would not take care of the star pacer, calling it an "unfortunate controversy".
Speaking on the controversy, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt lashed out at the PCB for not handling the situation properly.
"The board said that it will reimburse the expenses of the treatment. Aren't the medical expenses of a player come under the central contract? Central contract covers treatment of the players, even if he is a state player. Why are they talking about giving reimbursement? Why does the player have to spend money for his treatment? Isn't the medical panel recommended by the board?" Butt said during an interaction on his YouTube channel.
Notably, Shaheen toured with the team for the ODI series against Netherlands. He was then ruled out of the Asia Cup, but accompanied the team, as a part of his rehab, for the tournament.
While pointing out the same, Butt said that the board should've been prepared, even if they didn't knew about the seriousness of Shaheen's injury.
"You tour different countries throughout the year and you can't even book a ticket for the player. Players shouldn't be bothered with all this. If there was an emergency, you can probably ask the player to go ahead, and you can later reimburse the expenses. But in this case, the player was with you for three tours, and you knew that you'll have to send him for treatment. Even if you didn't knew, there should've been a back up plan," he added.
Pakistan Cricket Team
Shaheen Afridi