Ahmed Shehzad ‘won’t play PSL again with these six teams’

LAHORE: Discarded Pakistan’s Test opener Ahmed Shehzad on Friday announced that he is parting ways with the Pakistan Super League and vowed that he would not play the country’s marquee league with these six teams.

His surprise announcement came after he was again not picked the other day by any franchise at the PSL 9 draft despite his solid showing with the willow during the recently concluded National T20 Cup.

“I am writing this note which I thought I would not be writing this year. Another PSL draft goes by and same old story, did not get picked. God knows why,” Shehzad said. “But they plan and Allah plans. Indeed Allah is the best of planners,” he was quick to add.

“I have tried really hard by giving it all in domestic circuit consistently in the last few years and did reasonably well in the National T20 Cup just before the PSL draft. There seems a deliberate effort to keep me out, even when franchises have opted for other performers with inferior numbers than me,” he said.

“When everything is pre-planned it does not really matter. I don’t know whose responsibility it is to get top domestic performers in the PSL then. But I exactly know the reasons why I am not made part of the PSL, the whole country and my fans will know it very soon,” Shehzad said.

“I am parting ways and saying goodbye to Pakistan Super League for my own self respect. I have never played for money and will never do it. While many chose international leagues across the globe I decided to grind in the domestic circuit to prove my love for the game and to wear the green flag again.

“I will not play the PSL again with these six teams. It seems like a shared responsibility to keep me away from the PSL and all franchises have shaken hands. Lastly I am thankful to all the support I have received from my fans across the world. I can only assure one thing and that is never giving in to unfair demands, or accept anything which lets my country down,” Shehzad conceded.

“All I know is in this day and age being patriotic and putting your nation first goes against you. I am thankful to my Allah that I always stood firm on my moral responsibilities and have never let myself, my family and my country down,” he said.