Shahid Afridi has told that he will not play in the BPL - Bangladesh Premier League due to Pakistan's series with England "As it will clash the series." Afridi was bought for $700,000 by the Dhaka Gladiators, the highest bid for any player in the auction – and would have featured in the tournament to be played from February 9 to 28. However, Afridi, the first choice for all the bidders, expressed his unavailability for the Bangladesh league.
"I won’t take part in the BPL," Afridi told The Express Tribune from Australia where the all-rounder is taking part in the Big Bash League. "It’s clashing with the limited-overs series against England in the UAE and that’s my focus. My preference has always been my national team and I’m looking forward to giving my best against England." He added: "I'll utilise those days for training. I can only think about playing in the league when I don’t have national commitments."
The Dhaka franchise, though, has said Afridi will definitely be available for the tournament's semi-finals and final, should Dhaka get that far, and may even play the season opener if it is before February 13, the date of the first Pakistan-England ODI.
Earlier, the all-rounder also expressed his unavailability for the opening stages of the South Africa domestic Twenty20 competition.
Dhaka Gladiators brushes off:
In a press statement on Friday, the Gladiators said, "It has been observed that there is confusion with Dhaka Gladiator's foreign cricketer, Shahid Afridi's availability for the first edition of Bangladesh Premier League. "This is to inform all that it has always been mentioned by the BPL Governing Body that Afridi will be only available on February 28 and 29 and the Dhaka franchise was well aware of the situation. "The former Pakistan skipper not being available for BPL 2012 is only a rumour as both Afridi and his agent have confirmed about his presence for Dhaka Gladiators on the mentioned dates."
Pakistani players feel need no more to play IPL:
As big-bitting Shahid Afridi today emerged as the costliest player in the auction of the soon-to-be-launched Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), Pakistani players feel they no more suffer due to the IPL snub.
Pakistan's discarded wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal said by not allowing them to play in India, it is IPL which is suffering, "I don't think we are suffering because the IPL doesn't want us. By not playing us the IPL is missing out on crowd pullers because I know for a fact that Indian crowds love to watch Pakistani players in action," Akmal said.
Akmal stressed that Pakistani players were in high demand in all other countries where domestic T20 leagues were being organized. "Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved, Umar (Akmal), Umar Gul, Saeed (Ajmal) and many others have got frequent offers to play in these leagues," he said.
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