Afridi finds few sympathisers after shock retirement

"I don't understand why he needed to do this. Today he is blaming this board but he has forgotten it was this board that supported and backed him even during his ball-tampering incident in Australia and even when he didn't perform," former captain Zaheer Abbas said.

"Even when the team reached the World Cup semi-finals, the board not only rewarded him but gave him lot of respect," he added.

Zaheer said if Afridi had any issues with the team management, he should have waited until board Chairman Ijaz Butt had met all stakeholders in the team to sort out things.
"The sort of language he has used while announcing his retirement is unacceptable at any level. There is no excuse for him to behave this way," Zaheer said.

Former Test leg-spinner and ex-chief selector Abdul Qadir also slammed Afridi for making a mockery of the retirement word. "Nowadays, it has become a joke to announce your retirement. Our players are doing it regularly and backing out and only causing embarrassment for Pakistan cricket," he said.

Qadir said even if Afridi had any issues with the team management or board, he should have talked to the Chairman first before taking a decision. "I don't think there were any circumstances to behave in this matter. He is part of the management and it is his responsibility to ensure internal issues are sorted out internally," he added.

Former Test spinner Iqbal Qasim, who had also been a chief selector, said Afridi's decision would only cause damage to cricket. "In the end it is cricket that suffers, which is sad. I don't know what happened in the team or between Afridi and the board but I don't think he needed to adapt such drastic measures," he said.

Qasim said he didn't support the sort of harsh language used by Afridi against the board.
"He needed to be more careful with what he says in the media. After all there is a code of conduct for every player particularly the captain. I don't think his decision is justified. I just hope he and the board now sit down and sort things out quickly or this issue will only cause more harm to Pakistan cricket," Qasim said.

Former Test captain Rashid Latif said he was disappointed at what had happened.
"It happened so suddenly. I don't know what is right or wrong but I know this much that the government or board needs to set up an independent commission to find out what or who are those elements in Pakistan cricket who are forcing senior players to take such decisions and why," Latif said.

Afridi, in his retirement announcement, hinted that there was a particularly lobby of Punjab working against him which didn't want him to continue as captain.
"The commission should find out what is happening in the team that senior players in the past like Younis Khan, Muhammad Yousuf and now Afridi have decided to take the course of leaving the captaincy or retiring," Latif said. Former wicketkeeper captain Moin Khan blamed the board for the current crisis in the team.