Temperamental fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar on Saturday blamed Shahid Afridi for the brawl with Mohammad Asif which led to his ouster from the Pakistan team for the Twenty20 cricket World Cup in South Africa.
"Shahid Afridi said things about my family which I could not tolerate. He made comments which cannot be called jokes," Shoaib told a press conference in Lahore.
Afridi made nasty comments after a practice session in Johannesburg, and the two got into a tussle, Akhtar said. When Asif tried to intervene, Akhtar accidentally struck him with his bat.
The mercurial pacer, who was sent back after hitting Asif with a bat, said he immediately apologised to his fellow pacer.
"After the incident, I went to Asif's room and apologised. He is fine now and will play in the championship next week," Shoaib said.
"Let me make it clear, I did not hit him intentionally. I am not an idiot to hit someone with a bat just like that. It was something which happened between Asif and me and we had sorted everything out. But once the reports started coming in media, the Board had to take some action," he added.
The paceman said he was ready to face any disciplinary action that the Board might take against him. "I respect the board's decision to send me back," he said.
Shoaib came down heavily on the media for sensationalising the incident and said he had been made a "villain".
"The matter got carried away. This was actually a misunderstanding which was blown out of proportion. The media has contributed to the whole controversy. I have been made a villain," he said.
"There is a lobby which has always been trying to malign me by selling negative news about me. I request you all to stop doing that. Stop spreading false propaganda against me, stop selling my name in the name of news," Shoaib said.
Recalling the incident, Shoaib said he was called by the team management to explain his actions before being sent home. The pacer claimed that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had been supportive so far.
"The Board has supported me throughout. I have been backed by (Board President) Naseem Ashraf. He supported me during the doping scandal and he is backing me in this case," he said.
Shoaib said he regretted the incident all the more as it also denied him the chance to open the Pakistani attack with Asif.
"It hurts that we would not be able to bowl together. I had put in a lot of hard work for this championship, and to miss out like this is certainly painful. But I will start training tomorrow and would be back soon," he said.
