Afridi in trouble?

KANPUR: Shahid Afridi could be in trouble if Roshan Mahanama takes a serious note of the two events that took place on the field during the third ODI at the Green Park Stadium here, both involving the man.

Umpire Ian Gould caught Afridi banging the ball hard on the ground with no reason — he had neither taken a catch or dropped one, nor was he at the receiving end of an unsuccessful appeal.

This was around the 13th over. Sachin Tendulkar had departed, but not before he and Sourav Ganguly had inflicted much damage in the first 10 overs.

With the new ball effect negated to much extent, Afridi’s intentions could well be malafide. He has a history of inviting such doubts.

Besides, he also had a verbal joust with Gautam Gambhir soon after that incident, which Gould brought to the notice of his captain, Shoaib Malik.

In November 2005, during India’s tour to Pakistan, he was banned for a Test and two ODIs for deliberately damaging the pitch during the second Test against England.

He was caught on television scraping his boots on the pitch when play
was held up after a gas cylinder exploded invoking fears of a terror attack.