Former Pakistani cricketer Mohammad Hafez attacked Australian all-rounder James Faulkner on Monday over his “false allegations” in a Pakistan Premier League payment dispute.
Forkner, who has played six games for the Quetta Gladiators this season, claimed earlier last week that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had failed to honour his contract and “continued to lie to him” before withdrawing from the tournament. He even called PCB and PSL’s treatment of him a “disgrace”.
Hafez admitted in an interview with Sama TV that he was disappointed with Forkner’s attitude after sharing the dressing room with him in his final season in the PSL. The veteran cricketer added that in the last seven seasons of the game, he had never encountered complaints from players about payment issues, let alone foreign batsmen, and he believed the PCB should address the issue.
“As a Pakistani, it’s really painful. Because we look after and respect foreign players in a way that I haven’t seen anywhere in the world. That’s why it hurts, mostly because I didn’t expect Faulkner It will be. We played a season together last year and I thought he was professional. But again, it’s not good if an incident like this happens because of his attitude. I haven’t heard anything in the last seven seasons Complaints from Pakistani cricketers or any overseas players about financial issues. I feel the allegations about Pakistani cricket are false and PCB needs to act,” he said.
Forkner apologized to Pakistani cricket fans in his social media posts before leaving the game.
“My apologies to the Pakistani cricket fans. But unfortunately I had to withdraw from the last 2 games and leave @thePSLt20 because @TheRealPCB didn’t honor my contractual agreement/payment. I’ve been here and they have been lying to me. Leave It hurts because I want to help bring international cricket back to Pakistan because there’s a lot of young talent there and the fans are great. But the treatment I’ve gotten from @TheRealPCB is disgraceful, @thePSLt20. I’m sure you all understand me stance,” he tweeted.
In response to Faulkner’s allegations, the PCB slammed the cricketer for his “reprehensible” behaviour before announcing he had been banned from any future PSL drafts.
Complete News Source : Hindustan Times
