Ahmad Shahzad accuses Ijaz Butt of lying in response to alleged role in Waqar Younis' short-lived decision to quit
Pakistani opening batsman Ahmad Shahzad denied allegations that he had misbehaved with national team coach Waqar Younis, forcing the latter to quit from his post prior to the 2015 World Cup, Dunyanews.tv reports.
Pakistan cricket have always been mired in controversies and Ijaz Butt, former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), kicked off a new storm on Tuesday after he accused the 23-year-old Shahzad of insulting Waqar, making a derogatory remark, during a series.
“PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan told me about the incident and asked me to speak to Waqar to change his mind after he had submitted his resignation when the team returned home from a series," Butt said to the Press Trust of India. Apparently one of the players misbehaved with Waqar and insulted him calling him a "sifarashi" during a series. Waqar retaliated physically and the matter went to the Board.”
"I had told him (Shehzad) he was too much under the influence of Shahid Afridi and pandered to him. Waqar was very upset but I convinced him that it was not the right time to resign and he should continue," he added.
The aggressive batsman has garnered a reputation of having an hostile attitude and was reportedly warned by Waqar, along with Umar Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez, in the report he had sent to the PCB after their World Cup campaign came to a clsoe, as reported by The Indian Express.
However, following the accusations by Butt that the two were at loggerheads even before the tournament began, Shahzad responded through posts on his official Twitter account, calling Butt an attention seeker and chided 77-year-old for lying at such an old age.
He said that he have always given people the respect they deserve and added that he never disrespected any of the senior members in the squad, including Waqar.