Truce in Sight for PCB, Afridi; NOC on Cards with no Court to Attend

It appears that after much public mud slinging, buying peace is still possible with some bartering in Pakistan cricket as it now being assumed that Shahid Afridi and the Pakistan Cricket Board may have found a middle ground.

Shahid Afridi

The former Pakistan ODI captain may finally be seeing reason in his troubled relationship with the Pakistan Cricket Board and the PCB chief, Ijaz Butt. Shahid Afridi had a public fall out with the board after the board decided to punish the captain by demoting him from the title while yet to address the matter of his conflict and rift with the Pakistan coach, Waqar Younis.

Words were exchanged via the various reports submitted to the PCB even as Afridi made a stunning decision to quit international cricket for Pakistan in light of the board’s ruling and refused to attend the disciplinary committee hearing and instead slapped a case on the PCB in the Sindh High Court.

The Board decided to respond to the verbal lashing unleashed by Afridi against the present administration, vowing never to work with his administration again. However, Afridi may soon be eating his words.

After days of public feuding that has left the Pakistan public and former cricketers fuming over the state of affairs, there are suggestions from Pakistan that the matter may indeed arrive at an amicable end. And although it is still unclear whether Afridi will change his mind on his retirement decision, there are implications that the matter may not get to court after all and Afridi may still get to play abroad.

Although the news is still unconfirmed, Afridi may be able to engage his contract with Hampshire after all as part of the truce may involve the Pakistan Cricket Board reneging on revoking the No Objection Certificate to Afridi following his retirement and verbal assault on the board. The players are required to field NOCs before signing up for lucrative Twenty20 deals abroad. With Afridi facing the heat and loss of opportunity after the board stomped on the previously agreed upon commitment, there has been a great deal of heartburn.

However, if Afridi does get his NOC reinstated for his stints with the England county team in the Twenty20 tournament, he may also have to attend the PCB disciplinary committee meeting as part of the deal that should keep the court duties out of the boardroom. That status of that meeting and the verdict could still impact the fragile state of affairs in Pakistan cricket that have also seen political angles to the battle that has dominated the pages instead of a preview of Pakistan’s upcoming assignments or of their progress.

Instead Pakistan cricket has been overcome by problems between players and boards, not to mention the other tussles including the spot fixing scandal and the subject matter of Mohammad Aamer appearing for an England club while serving the ban imposed by the ICC. The Waqar Younis-Shahid Afridi rift has been damaging from the perspective of not only harmony within the team trying to stand its ground but also, undoing the image of solidity with the team having reached the semi finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 against eventual winners, India. With a state of disharmony perpetually surfacing within Pakistan cricket and egos clashing, it appears that the administration is in a sorry state of affairs to be able to tackle problems permeating within the dressing room.