‘Struggling’ Afridi turns butcher to rake in moolah?

KARACHI - Pakistan’s One-day International and Twenty20 skipper Shahid Afridi, who is already under huge pressure because of his team’s continuous dismal performance against South Africa in the ongoing series, has now found himself dragged into another controversy over a sacrificial animals stall.

A news channel played up a report on Saturday that though Afridi was struggling as a captain and player, the flamboyant all-rounder had not missed the opportunity to make some money by setting up a stall for sacrificial animals at a market in Karachi, the Daily Times reported.

Taking jibes at the fact that the Pakistan captain had now turned to the meat business after opening up his car showroom and launching his own brand of clothes, the channel said the animals at the VIP stall had become a centre of attraction for visitors because of Afridi’s involvement in it.

To compound matters, Pakistan’s former captain and senior batsman Muhammad Yousuf also visited the market and performed the ribbon cutting ceremony of the stall, and also spoke about the benefits of meat business.

The story clearly upset Afridi, who is in Abu Dhabi for the ‘home series’, as his brother Mushtaq Afridi went on air shortly after the story was aired a couple of times.

“Who told you that my brother has opened a stall at the sacrificial animals’ market? Tell me where is it? I have not seen it,” he questioned the newscaster on phone.

When reminded that Yousuf had performed the opening ceremony, Mushtaq, himself a first class cricketer, replied, “Prove to me this is our stall, we have no investment in it at all and we have nothing to do with it. Why drag my brother’s name into it?”

It is noteworthy that former players Inzamamul Haq and Yousuf have set up a chain of stores in Karachi and Lahore to sell top grade meat. “We are even importing high breed animals from New Zealand and Australia as we want to provide top quality to our customers,” said Yousuf. (ANI)