Javed Afridi calls reports about KKR and Zalmi matches 'just speculations'

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Peshawar Zalmi owner Javed Afridi on Thursday retracted an earlier claim that Peshawar Zalmi would play a series of T20 matches with Shah Rukh Khan-owned Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

After KKR's official twitter account called the reports 'false', Afridi also said earlier media reports were 'just speculations'.

Earlier in the day, it was reported that Javed Afridi had been congratulated by KKR owner Shah Rukh Khan for winning the Pakistan Super League final, and that Khan had suggested a T20 series between the Knight Riders and Zalmi.

Afridi had claimed: "Shah Rukh congratulated me and suggested a T20 series between Kolkata Knight Riders and Peshawar Zalmi."

However, Kolkata Knight Riders' official Twitter handle quickly dismissed the reports as "false" and said that "no such exchange took place".

In an earlier interview with DawnNews, Afridi had said that his franchise's dynamic is 'completely different' than any of the other teams participating in PSL.

On Wednesday, Afridi had accepted an invitation from Afghan President Ashraf Ghani for the Zalmi team to visit Kabul in summer this year.

In an attempt to share their happiness this year, the franchise had flown a group of children from the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital to Dubai, to watch the opening ceremony and some of the PSL matches in Dubai.

Last year, they collaborated with Shahid Afridi, one of the highest profile stars in the Zalmi squad, to take 150 children from the Army Public School — the site of a horrific terrorist attack in 2014 — to the Pakistan Super League’s first edition, also held in Dubai.

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