“The Australian cricket series is 'a relic of the past' and we should look forward,” said Jamshed Dasti.—Photo by APP

“The Australian cricket series is 'a relic of the past' and we should look forward,” chairman of NA Committee on Sports, Jamshed Ahmed Dasti, told Dawn on Monday.

Mr Dasti insisted “We should give due respect to every player especially Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Yousuf and Kamran Akmal. These players have brought laurels for the country in the past and criticising them for one poor show is unfair and unjust.”

Answering a question over Shahid Afridi's ball tampering stigma, he said that players were always very sensitive and “I am sure it was all in utter frustration and heat of the moment which forced him [Afridi] to go for an action which is not a deliberate one.”

Afridi has already been banned for two Twenty20 internationals after being found guilty of the act [ball-tampering] during Pakistan's two-wicket loss against the Australian team.

Mr Dasti, a blunt PPP legislator, added that the nation should realise that several members of the current team were part of the last Twenty20 World Cup winning squad.

He pointed out “The next Twenty20 World Cup is just a few months away and we are defending champions so I think we should give them a pat on the back.”

However, the NA chairman warned that there must not be any compromise over disciplinary rules already in place for the cricketers.

The NA committee, he said, would continue to give its input over bringing a system in place at the PCB but had nothing to do with the operational matters of the cricket team.

“We want to change the current system which is standing on weak grounds,” he said.

The NA body, he said, had no clashes with any individual but “it wanted to have individuals who must have command and experience over corporate law and running a multinational institution,” he said.

The approval of the new PCB constitution, he said, was a key solution to several management and operational flaws of the cricket board.