Every team tampers the ball, my method was wrong: Afridi

By Rahul Bajaj
for Cricketain.com

Published: February 2, 2010

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Every team tampers the ball, my method was wrong: Afridi thumbnail

Karachi: Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi made a shocking revelation on Monday, saying that every team in the world indulged in ball tampering but he was caught for it because his methods were wrong.

Afridi, who has been banned for two twenty20 internationals for biting the ball during the fifth and final one-dayer against Australia at Perth, said that ball tampering is nothing new but he feels that he shouldn’t have done it.

“There is no team in the world that doesn’t tamper with the ball,” said Afridi in his defence.

“My methods were wrong. I am embarrassed, I shouldn’t have done it. I just wanted to win us a game but this was the wrong way to do it,” Afridi was quoted as saying by the local media. “I shouldn’t have done it. It just happened. I was trying to help my bowlers and win a match, one match.”

“I apologise to all and everyone involved in the match and to the fans around the world. This will never happen again,” he added.

Afridi also said that since he was leading the side in that game, he should have been even more careful about his on-field conduct. “Being the captain, I should have been a role-model for my players which I was not, but I hope I will be forgiven,” he said.

Former Pakistan skipper Inzamam Ul Haq also lashed out at Afridi, saying that he was lucky to have got away with a two-match ban. “What Afridi did was unacceptable and more worrying is the fact that he was captain when he tried to tamper with the ball,” Inzamam added. “The match referee Ranjan Madugalle has been kind to Afridi, giving him just a two-match ban or else Afridi could have been in bigger trouble.”

Meanwhile, in another interesting development, a television footage of Afridi allegedly admitting to frequently ball tampering has surfaced. “Only (a) few get to do some bit of ball tampering. If the weather is dry and hot then you can get some help from the pitch while bowling. But you also have to help the ball yourself. You have to tamper with the ball to make it swing (on subcontinental pitches). It spells death for bowlers if you don’t tamper with the ball. You can get some help from the pitch but even then you have to ‘make’ the ball,” Afridi admitted.

He in fact went to the extent of saying that ball tampering should be legalised by the ICC. “The game and its rules are changing. You should be allowed to tamper with the ball after the 30th or 40th over,” he says in the footage.

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