Was Mohammad Hafeez right in criticizing the potential selection of Sharjeel Khan?

[MenInG]

Hafeez may have had a point but was it right to express it in that way so publicly? What did he expect to achieve?

 

[Abdul]

Yes. Beghairat fixers like Sharjeel deserve to get called out.

 

[coy0607]

Whatever your view on Sharjeel, Amir, Butt, etc. Hafeez has no right to attack those players - he needs to focus on his own cricket.

If we want to comment on everyone else, should retire from cricket and and start a show on Geo Super.

 

[Savak]

Nope. Present players need to keep their opinions to themselves and not spoil the atmosphere of the dressing room. If Hafeez has objections, he is welcome to leave the team.

 

[Pakhs]

No unless he plans to retire now before the next game which may not happen until next year

 

[ammar_merry]

Yes.

 

[TeymurBlake]

Personally no. Hafeez needs to remember that he's been banned from chucking FOUR times. Regarding the tweet, its not something you post. Its best kept to himself.

 

[Shaka81]

No he's a current player and it could lead to splits in the dressing room. He's paid to play cricket not stand on a soapbox and preach. Once he retires he can do whatever he wants.

 

[MenInG]

The Pakistani veteran all-rounder, M. Hafeez, has recently commented in a wondering tone over Sharjeel Khan on his twitter saying, “does dignity matter over talent” for which he has gotten an earful by the CEO of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Wasim Khan.

Hafeez has now found a former Indian cricketer, Aakash Chopra, in the race who has supported Hafeez’s statement.

“Let Hafeez speak as he is making a good point. These days, people don’t speak out on this topic, which is an issue. He is actually talking sense and asked a very simple question that what is more important, dignity or special talent? In my opinion, you can let go of one or two talents, but if you let go of dignity, then nothing will be left,” Chopra said in a YouTube video.

Aakash Chopra is of the view that in today’s world, not a single person raises the voice on such matters. Hafeez is correct according to him and shall be granted the right to put over his criticism and views. Prioritizing talent over dignity is wrong, according to Aakash Chopra as well.

“Tainted cricketers should not be welcomed back. Life gives you second chances, but give them a second chance somewhere else and not in this sport. You should set a strong example, or else others will also get involved in fixing seeing that tainted players were able to come back after serving their punishment.”

Backing M. Hafeez, the Indian cricketer also praised the honor and dignity of him and saying he knows from where the veteran all-rounder has come.

“I had spent time with Hafeez when he was part of Kolkata Knight Riders in the first season of Indian Premier League. He has a zero-tolerance policy against those who have been involved in match or spot-fixing. All he said was that isn’t honest with the country more important than talent, which I completely agree with. You feel disheartened, disappointed, and frustrated when you find out that your teammates were fixing matches,” Aakash Chopra said.

https://crictribune.com/aakash-chop...h-chopra-supports-hafeez-debate-over-sharjeel

 

[sshakir411]

Hafeez is worried about getting a spot in the team. Typical cheap shot fired.

 

[SARJ_BD]

Yes. Tainted players (if proven right) should be kept away from Pakistan cricket.
This includes Amir, Salman Butt, Asif, Sharjeel, Umar Akmal (if proven).

 

[Dr_Bassim]

Centrally contracted players should learn to keep their mouths shut and not speak about other team members and I am sure there is a clause in the PCB to prohibit anyone to just shout out about anything they want.

So was Hafeez right? No.

Was the decision to play Sharjeel again right? NO.

Playing crooked players, cheats and all those who are under bookies influence just a disservice to other players who are honest.


An example would be a pedophile going to jail for 07 years after being convicted of child sexual offences and then coming back from prison to take a job in the nursery as a security guard. No realistic organization would hire him and no parent would be happy with a "convicted pedophile" being so near their children.

Those who are so raucous against "done time now deserves chance" would not be saying this when they have children and a "pedophile' comes in close contact with their children after doing time. They would run their children away faster than you can say "I told you".

And yes jail time is jail time (it doesn't differentiate between type of offences). Actually it does, but it just calls out those people who keep parroting "done the time now needs to come back".

 

[Amjid Javed]

The fact Hafeez has paraded around Pretending to be a "international cricketer" for 18 years is the biggest crime here.

He should learn to shut his mouth.

 

[Abdullah719]

Centrally contracted players should learn to keep their mouths shut and not speak about other team members and I am sure there is a clause in the PCB to prohibit anyone to just shout out about anything they want.

So was Hafeez right? No.

Was the decision to play Sharjeel again right? NO.

Playing crooked players, cheats and all those who are under bookies influence just a disservice to other players who are honest.


An example would be a pedophile going to jail for 07 years after being convicted of child sexual offences and then coming back from prison to take a job in the nursery as a security guard. No realistic organization would hire him and no parent would be happy with a "convicted pedophile" being so near their children.

Those who are so raucous against "done time now deserves chance" would not be saying this when they have children and a "pedophile' comes in close contact with their children after doing time. They would run their children away faster than you can say "I told you".

And yes jail time is jail time (it doesn't differentiate between type of offences). Actually it does, but it just calls out those people who keep parroting "done the time now needs to come back".

Hafeez doesn't have a central contract though.

 

[Amir Malik]

In a society where people still support Nawaz Sharif and Zardari, dishonest people will always be forgiven. "Honesty and integrity is overrated if you are not good enough" is the thinking in Pakistan.

Your opinion only matters if you are a top player otherwise you don't have the right to say anything is thinking on this forum, very strange for a forum where everybody can share their thoughts..

 

[Shoaibbtt]

On a professional level no he wasn’t right as he’s just a cricketer. If hafeez had such morals he’d leave seeing as amir is playing, Afridi at least had the guts to leave when ijaz Butt and Waqar were running the show

 

[silentkiller187]

You cant make comments against players and then potentially share a dressing room with them

 

[silentkiller187]

Centrally contracted players should learn to keep their mouths shut and not speak about other team members and I am sure there is a clause in the PCB to prohibit anyone to just shout out about anything they want.

So was Hafeez right? No.

Was the decision to play Sharjeel again right? NO.

Playing crooked players, cheats and all those who are under bookies influence just a disservice to other players who are honest.


An example would be a pedophile going to jail for 07 years after being convicted of child sexual offences and then coming back from prison to take a job in the nursery as a security guard. No realistic organization would hire him and no parent would be happy with a "convicted pedophile" being so near their children.

Those who are so raucous against "done time now deserves chance" would not be saying this when they have children and a "pedophile' comes in close contact with their children after doing time. They would run their children away faster than you can say "I told you".

And yes jail time is jail time (it doesn't differentiate between type of offences). Actually it does, but it just calls out those people who keep parroting "done the time now needs to come back".

Do you not agree in forgiveness and second chances

 

[ads101]

Do you not agree in forgiveness and second chances

Years ago on here people were talking about forgiveness, letting Amir back, he was only 17/18 etc. led astray. A lot of them said this was a special case, Butt and Asif shouldn't be welcomed back just Amir. And that if anyone dumb enough to fix after the trio got shouldn't be forgiven/brought back.

Now Sharjeel has been banned, people again want him to be forgiven. He even got a lenient sentence because fortunately for him he fixed in Pakistan unlike the trio.

And yet Sharjeel is older than Amir (or even Butt) was and fixed after the trio incident. Many were happy that Kaneria was permanently banned too. In fact I feel PCB purposely tried to show how harsh they were on Amir and Butt not letting them back, to convince other boards not to be angry at Amir returning who has the age excuse.

I suspect many would happily take the high road and support banning fixers for life if it were players that they didn't rate. The difference with Sharjeel and Amir is that they are talented players, which makes fans happy to show forgiveness/leniency on the chance once back in the fold makes the team stronger.

It would be perfectly fine to let them just play domestic cricket. They'd make a living, probably more than the average domestic player if they played PSL. Welcoming them back to the international fold is more us wanting him to improve the Pakistani national team's fortunes than and giving him a chance to earn his livelihood which he already has.

 

[Oneking]

Ek Begharat dusray Begharat KO Bol raha hai. It’s there personal matter let them sort it out

 

[Shoaibbtt]

Do you not agree in forgiveness and second chances

If a fraudster scammed you and took all your money, would you forgive them?

How hard is it to not be stupid and do this fixing business?

 

[silentkiller187]

If a fraudster scammed you and took all your money, would you forgive them?

How hard is it to not be stupid and do this fixing business?

People make mistakes in life, surely they should have a a chance at redemption, if allah is the most forgiving and merciful then who are we to judge

 

[sweep_shot]

Hafeez wasn't right at all. He should've kept his opinion to himself.

This type of statement can harm team unity.

 

[Batsman e Azam]

Fixers should never be allowed back in the national team. Hafeez did the right thing because somebody has to raise his voice and speak the truth. We just can't keep on compromising on the nation's dignity and integrity. What would be the impact on society when kids will follow and try to emulate the people who sold their country for a few bucks? Would those kids become honest members of the society?

 

[khan_aa]

Hafeez needs to be reminded that Sharjeel actually finished his sentence and punishment. Whats the point of disciplining someone and punishing them if you will never forgive them.

If that was the case PCB should have banned Sharjeel 2.5 years ago and banned him straight away without any chance for a come back.

He did his time. He is back.

Now whats the problem?

Uncle Hafeez needs to seek some mental help. He does NOT represent Pakistan.

If this was coming from Babar Azam, then yes, I would take it seriously. Babar Azam merits a place in every team based on performance, professionalism and that hunger for Pakistan that was missing for the last decade. Hafeez is nothing. His words are nothing.

Just ignore.

Pakistan needs its A team to do well in Australia. Sharjeel is good agaisnt the short ball. We need him in the team. Otherwise we will start like WC 2019 against West Indies where everyone succumbed to the short ball as they were complacent. And we lost the WC right there as we fell behind the RR.

Dear Hafeez, please, you are 38 years old. You had 15 years to do great things for Pakistan, and besides your innings in CT 2017, you did squat. you have far more failures than successes.
Please go away - and let others more deserving players represent Pakistan.

 

[Kroll]

Hafeez literally threw a colleague under the bus. Unwritten rule you can't do when you're in the public domain.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

Do you not agree in forgiveness and second chances

The "second chance" phenomenon hoodwinks the "mentally challenged people" of the society into believing that everyone "deserves a second chance" in "entirely the same company that they first were caught cheating."

Yes they do.

But not in the exact same business that you were caught infiltrating in the first place.

A gambler deserves a second chance in life. But does he deserve being hired by the same casino?

An addict deservers a second chance in life. But does he deserve being hired as bartender?

A pedophile deserves a second chance? But does he deserve it being a security guard for a nursery?

A Muslim deserves a second chance after committing illegal intercourse outside wedlock. But does he deserve it by being a receptionist at a massage center?

If you think about all the things I've said you will understand that this "second chance" is basically a well thought "apologist phrase" for people who desperately want a certain player back in the team. The justice system demands he should stay well away from the exact area where the vices attracted him in the first place. But clearly people look the other way for certain players.

 

[King_Kohli]

Hafeez did right.

 

[hafizexpress]

Years ago on here people were talking about forgiveness, letting Amir back, he was only 17/18 etc. led astray. A lot of them said this was a special case, Butt and Asif shouldn't be welcomed back just Amir. And that if anyone dumb enough to fix after the trio got shouldn't be forgiven/brought back.

Now Sharjeel has been banned, people again want him to be forgiven. He even got a lenient sentence because fortunately for him he fixed in Pakistan unlike the trio.

And yet Sharjeel is older than Amir (or even Butt) was and fixed after the trio incident. Many were happy that Kaneria was permanently banned too. In fact I feel PCB purposely tried to show how harsh they were on Amir and Butt not letting them back, to convince other boards not to be angry at Amir returning who has the age excuse.

I suspect many would happily take the high road and support banning fixers for life if it were players that they didn't rate. The difference with Sharjeel and Amir is that they are talented players, which makes fans happy to show forgiveness/leniency on the chance once back in the fold makes the team stronger.

It would be perfectly fine to let them just play domestic cricket. They'd make a living, probably more than the average domestic player if they played PSL. Welcoming them back to the international fold is more us wanting him to improve the Pakistani national team's fortunes than and giving him a chance to earn his livelihood which he already has.

Absolutely spot on!

 

[Usman]

Here's my take on the Hafeez situation.

If I went on Twitter and criticized the decisions of my employer, no matter how bad I thought those decisions were, I would expect a punishment at the very least. Any employer expects you to raise grievances internally, which is of course the correct way to go about it.

Hafeez's situation is even worse. Like it or not, he is famous world over. For him to criticize his employer in an open forum in this way, well, it's simply not acceptable.

I get that he is pointing out Sharjeel's corruption etc. However two wrongs don't make a right. Simple.

 

[silentkiller187]

The "second chance" phenomenon hoodwinks the "mentally challenged people" of the society into believing that everyone "deserves a second chance" in "entirely the same company that they first were caught cheating."

Yes they do.

But not in the exact same business that you were caught infiltrating in the first place.

A gambler deserves a second chance in life. But does he deserve being hired by the same casino?

An addict deservers a second chance in life. But does he deserve being hired as bartender?

A pedophile deserves a second chance? But does he deserve it being a security guard for a nursery?

A Muslim deserves a second chance after committing illegal intercourse outside wedlock. But does he deserve it by being a receptionist at a massage center?

If you think about all the things I've said you will understand that this "second chance" is basically a well thought "apologist phrase" for people who desperately want a certain player back in the team. The justice system demands he should stay well away from the exact area where the vices attracted him in the first place. But clearly people look the other way for certain players.

im not an apologist at all, im just saying whats the point of rehabilitation programmes and what not if were just gonna say commit a crime and goodbye, if you look through my previous comments you will see i held the same views for salman and asif as much as i despised them, and waqar, wasim, et al in the past.

 

[hashimafzal]

Hafeez is not centrally contracted by the PCB, therefore they have no right to tell him what he can/can not say.

Hafeez has spoken his mind and stated his opinion, and is in every right to do so.

Its a controversial topic and a sensitive one, but is this Soviet Russia of the 60s or North Korea where we must filter what our cricketers are saying?

The players should themselves know what is appropriate and understand any repercussions associated with saying things in the media.

That being said, I believe Hafeez will still stand behind his words, as he truly believes that a man has nothing more than his dignity.

He should be applauded.

 

[Hasan123]

Hafeez has a point but he should not be commenting on such things in public as he isn't a selector or coach.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

im not an apologist at all, im just saying whats the point of rehabilitation programmes and what not if were just gonna say commit a crime and goodbye, if you look through my previous comments you will see i held the same views for salman and asif as much as i despised them, and waqar, wasim, et al in the past.

Its not about Salman Butt or Asif or Sharjeel.

Rehabilitation means "integrating into the society".

Rehabilitation doesn't mean giving a man the same job that made him a criminal in the first place.


I'll just be brief here and make my point.

Laws are meant to protect people and not entitle people. It seems the laws are usually misinterpreted by most people of the society as a "due process where everyone gets a right to commit a mistake and then be forgiven and integrated into the society at the same level and same position". The only problem with that is that honest people have "no incentive to not cheat the society as a crooked person can commit a mistake and be honored with the same prestige as a hard working individual." Such class difference of giving people equivalent treatment based on being honest or dishonest lets the society degrade its moral fabric gradually and people can no longer "differentiate between right and wrong".

This is just not limited to cricket. Already in Pakistan we see, the rich and entitled segment of the society repeatedly get away with committing mistakes because they are forgiven under the pretext of "made a mistake". People in Pakistan generally cannot differentiate between "right and wrong" because at young age they are told to "cheat the system to get ahead and if you get caught, you will get support anyways after doing your time".

We are creating a morally weak society.

My point still stood 10 years ago when Amir was supported and allowed back in the team, and it will still stand when Sharjeel is offered the same role.

 

[silentkiller187]

Its not about Salman Butt or Asif or Sharjeel.

Rehabilitation means "integrating into the society".

Rehabilitation doesn't mean giving a man the same job that made him a criminal in the first place.


I'll just be brief here and make my point.

Laws are meant to protect people and not entitle people. It seems the laws are usually misinterpreted by most people of the society as a "due process where everyone gets a right to commit a mistake and then be forgiven and integrated into the society at the same level and same position". The only problem with that is that honest people have "no incentive to not cheat the society as a crooked person can commit a mistake and be honored with the same prestige as a hard working individual." Such class difference of giving people equivalent treatment based on being honest or dishonest lets the society degrade its moral fabric gradually and people can no longer "differentiate between right and wrong".

This is just not limited to cricket. Already in Pakistan we see, the rich and entitled segment of the society repeatedly get away with committing mistakes because they are forgiven under the pretext of "made a mistake". People in Pakistan generally cannot differentiate between "right and wrong" because at young age they are told to "cheat the system to get ahead and if you get caught, you will get support anyways after doing your time".

We are creating a morally weak society.

My point still stood 10 years ago when Amir was supported and allowed back in the team, and it will still stand when Sharjeel is offered the same role.

well i think we will have to agree to disagree here, the fact that Amir and Sharjeel could yet play for pakistan again proves my point. Thanks

 

[princeuk]

As far as I am concerned if Sharjeel has doen the time let him back in if the selectors feel he is good enough. Hafeez just sounds bitter, if his performances are good then he should get selected regardless of who else is pushing for selection.

 

[MenInG]

Hafeez feels he can say what he wants, when he wants - if all players started doing that, there would be mayhem. PCB need to put ALL players who wish to play for Pakistan under some sort of media contract.

 

[ads101]

Hafeez feels he can say what he wants, when he wants - if all players started doing that, there would be mayhem. PCB need to put ALL players who wish to play for Pakistan under some sort of media contract.

Would be chaos but maybe PCB wouldn't be able to just sweep it under the rug then.

Imagine being a domestic player who's toiling hard in domestic and not getting an international call up. And then being overlooked by a guy who simply did not care enough to not fix for money. It's disrespectful really, it's the life dream for so many domestic players and yet you do that.

I can't imagine the majority of domestic base, or perhaps even international squad/team are happy letting fixers back. But you won't hear those voices as they know they'll get in trouble, or it doesn't really affect them so much in the way that their international spot is cemented either way.

I'd be curious how Tanvir would feel if back when he was playing, he was dropped in order to accommodate a former fixer. I bet it wouldn't sit right.

 

[Shoaibbtt]

People make mistakes in life, surely they should have a a chance at redemption, if allah is the most forgiving and merciful then who are we to judge

Yea, why does he deserve to get a chance over hard workers in domestic cricket who haven't had such a conviction in their life. What about their Roozi? Fact is that you are treating your own organisation as a joke by bringing these people back.

 

[silentkiller187]

Yea, why does he deserve to get a chance over hard workers in domestic cricket who haven't had such a conviction in their life. What about their Roozi? Fact is that you are treating your own organisation as a joke by bringing these people back.

if theres someone better then him on the domestic level why not include them, but if theres no one else and hes served his time then call him back. what was Sharjeel actually convicted off in the first place and what was the evidence provided?

 

[Buffet]

PCB is doing the perfectly right thing here.

PCB keeps bring talented convicted fixers. PBC asked goverment to make fixing a criminal offence. PCB has no responsibility to keep fixers away. It's the job of government , ICC and other boards.

Defrauding a bank and then going to jail and then making it sound like it's your right to get the same job in bank, lol.

Basket case will remain a basket case and then wonder why it's a basket case.

 

[Shoaibbtt]

if theres someone better then him on the domestic level why not include them, but if theres no one else and hes served his time then call him back. what was Sharjeel actually convicted off in the first place and what was the evidence provided?

Yea in t20 currently i'd rather take either Shan Masood or Sohail Akhtar both of which had a good PSL tournament.

Fact is that ammandari and being a hard worker means nothing to the PCB which is a sad sight. Players will continue to exploit these flaws until drastic action isn't taken against match fixing. Did Sharjeel khan not learn from the Amir incident? Does he not have any fear or any care of what this could do to his family? Does a person not have sharaam to return back to the team he tarnished?

The same way a company would terminate an employee for gross misconduct, bribery, performance issues, the same principle should be applied to match fixers. I have no sympathy for Sharjeel.

Yes, we all make mistakes in life but he's seen these mistakes time and time again eg Saleem Malik, Amir, Salman Butt, Asif etc. Can he not learn? Can his brain not comprehend a life lesson in front of him?

Answer me this do we keep forgiving match fixers and give our domestic players more or less a life time ban from International cricket by favouring these tarnished individuals over them??

 

[Shoaibbtt]

PCB is doing the perfectly right thing here.

PCB keeps bring talented convicted fixers. PBC asked goverment to make fixing a criminal offence. PCB has no responsibility to keep fixers away. It's the job of government , ICC and other boards.

Defrauding a bank and then going to jail and then making it sound like it's your right to get the same job in bank, lol.

Basket case will remain a basket case and then wonder why it's a basket case.

PCB can do something about it by changing their rules and regulations over match fixing. It's not hard to totally isolate and dissolve these players from cricket. If PCB has the power to select players based on favoritism then they have the power to completely wipe you off the grid.

 

[silentkiller187]

Yea in t20 currently i'd rather take either Shan Masood or Sohail Akhtar both of which had a good PSL tournament.

Fact is that ammandari and being a hard worker means nothing to the PCB which is a sad sight. Players will continue to exploit these flaws until drastic action isn't taken against match fixing. Did Sharjeel khan not learn from the Amir incident? Does he not have any fear or any care of what this could do to his family? Does a person not have sharaam to return back to the team he tarnished?

The same way a company would terminate an employee for gross misconduct, bribery, performance issues, the same principle should be applied to match fixers. I have no sympathy for Sharjeel.

Yes, we all make mistakes in life but he's seen these mistakes time and time again eg Saleem Malik, Amir, Salman Butt, Asif etc. Can he not learn? Can his brain not comprehend a life lesson in front of him?

Answer me this do we keep forgiving match fixers and give our domestic players more or less a life time ban from International cricket by favouring these tarnished individuals over them??

That’s fine but you failed to address the claims made against him, and what he was found guilty for, because if that information was presented in front of a proper court it would have been thrown out. PCB acted unprofessionally through this process as well and as a result we’re happy to allow SHARJEEL back otherwise fall out would have been a lot worse. All I am saying is if you get sacked for something does that mean you can’t work for the rest of your life’ pcb set a president when letting Amir back, they either change the rules or we can’t pick and choose

 

[Shoaibbtt]

That’s fine but you failed to address the claims made against him, and what he was found guilty for, because if that information was presented in front of a proper court it would have been thrown out. PCB acted unprofessionally through this process as well and as a result we’re happy to allow SHARJEEL back otherwise fall out would have been a lot worse. All I am saying is if you get sacked for something does that mean you can’t work for the rest of your life’ pcb set a president when letting Amir back, they either change the rules or we can’t pick and choose

I don’t need to go over Sharjeel’s case, had he been innocent then why did he accept the charges against him??? He met the bookmakers, honestly don’t make me laugh he wasn’t framed or anything.

You know I’m right about this guy. Fact is to take a tougher stance on spot fixing, you must straight ban the player.

 

[silentkiller187]

I don’t need to go over Sharjeel’s case, had he been innocent then why did he accept the charges against him??? He met the bookmakers, honestly don’t make me laugh he wasn’t framed or anything.

You know I’m right about this guy. Fact is to take a tougher stance on spot fixing, you must straight ban the player.

Your not right because it looks like he is going to be given another chance, all I’m saying is if Amir got another chance why treat sharjeel any differently

 

[Shoaibbtt]

Your not right because it looks like he is going to be given another chance, all I’m saying is if Amir got another chance why treat sharjeel any differently

Ok in that sense let’s bring back Saleem Malik into the coaching team and let’s bring back all these fixers.

Fact is like I said and you didn’t address my point, what does amaandari count for?

Why are we rewarding corrupt individuals and giving hard workers in domestic nothing but a continued stint in domestic cricket.

Let’s go tell all our players “hey if you want a chance in international cricket, go do fixing and then you are guaranteed a spot in the team”

I’m sorry brother but you and I won’t see eye to eye on this issue. Bringing back corrupters is not fighting against spot fixing/fixing.