Preferring franchise cricket over national duty is not strange anymore in today’s cricket. In the recent past, fans have seen so many players who left national duty midway for the franchise cricket but former Pakistan captain, Shahid Afridi, believes that players should prioritize national duty over franchise cricket.
While commenting on the decision of Afghanistan leg-spinner, Rashid Khan for preferring the Bangladesh series over the PSL final, Afridi said that if someone is centrally-contracted, he should play for his country, not for any franchise.
Afghanistan leg-spinner represented Lahore Qalandars in the recently concluded PSL edition but he left midway due to the Afghanistan tour to Bangladesh. Last Saturday, the rumors of Rashid Khan’s participation in the PSL final surfaced, but Rashid was quick to deny the reports.
The former star said that Rashid Khan has taken the right decision and he has set a great example for controversial cricketers. Afridi said that the national duty comes first while the players can play the league cricket when they are free, even after retirement.
Last night Rashid Khan’s team, Lahore Qalandars, won the PSL title for the first time in history by defeating Multan Sultans by 42 runs.
It is pertinent to mention that some of the Australian players will be missing the white-ball leg of the Pakistan series due to the Indian Premier League next month. Those players got harsh criticism for that from the former cricketers. Last year, some of the South African players had also skipped the home series against Pakistan for Indian Premier League.
