Afridi criticises ICC for T20 WC next year, ignoring his show

Karachi, June 24: Pakistan star all-rounder Shahid Afridi has criticised the ICC for holding the next Twenty20 World Cup just nine months later and ignoring him for the
`Player of the Tournament` award.

Afridi, who was instrumental in Pakistan`s T20 World Cup triumph in England, said the ICC`s decision to hold third edition of the tournament in 2010 has left the team with very
little time to celebrate their victory.

"There is just no proper gap between the two tournaments for us to enjoy our victory. I don`t know why the ICC has done this, but to me it seems cricket today is more like a business than a sport," Afridi, who won the man-of-the-match award in both the semifinal and final, said on his return home today.

The 29-year-old all-rounder also admitted that inspite of his stellar performances in the T20 World Cup, he was little disappointed at not winning the player of the tournament award.

Although Afridi was the star for Pakistan in both the semifinal and final against South Africa and Sri Lanka with back-to-back half centuries and wickets, Tillekaratne Dilshan bagged the award with his commendable show with the bat.

"I was not expecting them (ICC) to ignore me for the player of the tournament award. I had scored over 160 runs and taken 11 wickets. My fielding was also top class and I was surprised when I didn`t win this award," he said.