Islamabad: Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi yesterday apologised for hitting a fan at the Karachi airport, saying he lost his temper when he saw his little daughter getting almost trampled by enthusiastic autograph seekers.
Afridi was returning home on Friday night after Pakistan won the Asia Cup by defeating Bangladesh when he was surrounded by hordes of fans at the airport seeking his autograph. He punched a fan in the face who was insisting on an autograph.
The all-rounder apologised over the Karachi airport incident, Geo News reported yesterday. His three-year-old daughter had come to the airport to welcome him with flowers.
Afridi had earlier heaped praise on Bangladesh, who lost by just two runs to his team in the Asia Cup final, saying the minnows were as good as the mighty Australians in the title clash.
"It seemed as if we were playing against Australia in the final. Bangladesh have matured a lot as a team and it felt good to win such a hard final," Afridi told reporters after reaching his hometown from Dhaka. Mohammad Hafeez, Younis Khan, Saeed Ajmal, Sarfraz Ahmad and Asad Shafiq were the other members of the victorious Pakistan team to return from Dhaka.
Room for improvement
Speaking loudly to make his voice audible to the media as hundreds of people gathered at the Karachi airport to give a warm welcome to their heroes, Afridi said Pakistan may have won the final but they still need to improve in many areas.
"We need improvement in some areas and we need to produce more players. I would urge the cricket authorities to lay lot of stress on our domestic cricket and implement a 10-year plan so that we can get maximum number of quality players," Afridi said.
The players were greeted by loud slogans and fans dancing to fast beats at the airport. Other members of the team reached Lahore yesterday.
Afridi said he was impressed by the performance put up by Bangladesh and felt the Bangladesh Premier League had helped them a lot.
"I think by holding the BPL, they did well and their players fought hard. I think we also need to make our domestic cricket as competitive as possible. We can look at the examples of the IPL and BPL while counting the benefits of such events," Afridi said.
Afridi said he felt happy that whenever he produced good bowling spells, the team did well. "It feels good that whenever I bowl well, we tend to win matches. I was struggling before the final and I worked hard in the nets so I am happy I could perform in the final and win the man-of-the-match award," he said.
Change in T20 squad
Afridi said it was up to the selectors to decide if there was need for changes in the team for one-day internationals and Twenty20 matches.
"T20 cricket is a totally different format of the game but yes, I think that when players like Ahmad Shahzad, Nasser Jamshed and others have done well, they should be given chances in T20 cricket," he said.
Asked if he would be ready to captain the side again if the board offered him the job for ODIs and T20s, Afridi at first ignored the question and than walked away after thanking the media.
