Recently a verbal spat erupted between legendary Javed Miandad and celebrated all-rounder Shahid Afridi -- eventually the former accused Afridi of being involved in match-fixing.

Pakistan cricket has been plagued with scandals of match-fixing since late 1990s which culminated in 2010 when three leading Pakistan players were convicted for spot-fixing and were banned in the aftermath of a sting operation in England.

It looked the worst was over for Pakistan under skipper Misbah-ul-Haq as Pakistan slowly rose from the ashes and became the number one Test team in the world despite playing all of its matches on foreign soil since 2009.

However, Miandad’s remark that Afridi had been involved in match-fixing once again brought the dark shadows of the past to Pakistan cricket team fans and this time one of their most celebrated star’s integrity has been questioned. Were they fools to think that Afridi had been irresponsible in his shot selection while actually the shot selection was deliberately poor?

His irresponsible shots were considered his way of playing. It was accepted by the fans if not by the experts. He has been the largest crowd puller for that very reason.

Miandad never appreciated the way Afridi played. And cricket experts would mostly agree with Miandad, regarded among the best batsmen of all time. But that has to do little with the present controversy.

Afridi has been making headlines, asking the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to let him play one last farewell game. First it came as a light request but later it was a passionate appeal from a cricketer at the twilight of his career. Apparently PCB had correctly rejected his request during the T20 series against West Indies.

Afridi’s demand for a farewell game is in itself wrong but PCB’s lack of professional decisiveness has let it turn into a controversy. The Board should have told Afridi that it heard his plea once before World T20 Championship and that it won’t do it again. Moreover, if he wants to continue he should secure his berth in the team on merit -- by performing well in domestic cricket. But PCB seemed to have crumbled under Afridi’s star power pressure and toyed with the issue rather than addressing it professionally.

The PCB officials need to make a straight professional policy and follow it consistently for selecting a player. Moreover, it also desperately needs a crisis management cell to analyse an issue before it snowballs into a controversy. Pakistan cricket team is gelling up well in Tests and T20s and hopefully ODI results would soon follow.

Now if sometimes-outspoken Miandad apologises to Afridi then it will all calm down and the issue will be resolved. But if he doesn’t Afridi might be asked prove his innocence. Otherwise he will not only be remembered as a rash batsman but also as tainted one. That is precisely the reason why Afridi has decided to send a legal notice to Miandad. It will be interesting to see how Miandad responds to it.