Wasim issues warning to Hafeez after Sharjeel jibe

LAHORE (Monitoring Desk): The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Executive Wasim Khan has warned veteran all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez to refrain from commenting on selection and policy matters related to the national side.

Hafeez on Friday, in a tweet, tacitly took a dig at opener Sharjeel Khan bearing in mind the fact that the latter’s potential inclusion in the national side has been the talk of the town in the recent past.

In his tweet, the veteran all-rounder indicated towards Sharjeel’s tainted past and politely questioned whether it should be overlooked if a player has a decent skill set.

“Shouldn’t we set standards of dignity and pride higher than any other “Extra Talent” to represent Pakistan. Just Asking,” said Hafeez on his official Twitter account.

While speaking to reporters in a Teleconference on Saturday, the PCB chief executive advised the 39-year-old to focus on his own cricket and not worry about other players.

“I will be personally speaking to Mohammad Hafeez about that and I don’t think it’s his place to be doing it. No other player in the world does that so why should our Pakistani players do that?’’ questioned Wasim. ‘‘I don’t think they have any space to do that and I don’t think they should be doing that. That’s my personal view. Coming from an English environment, I never saw an English player tweet about policies, procedures, talking about other players’ right or wrong.’’

‘‘My view is, he should focus on his own game, focus on the cricketing opinion he can give but don’t give personal opinion about other players,’’ he added.

Earlier in 2015, when left-arm pacer Mohammad Amir was returning from his five-year ban due to spot-fixing and was invited to the national team’s training camp, Hafeez had said that he “can’t share the dressing room with someone who hurt my country’s integrity”.

However, the veteran all-rounder was later convinced by then PCB chairman Shehryar Khan to take part in the camp, after his grievances were addressed.