Waqar comes out in support of Afridi

Pakistan head coach Waqar Younis has come out in support of under-fire WT20 captain Shahid Afridi, saying the flamboyant all-rounder’s statement of getting ‘more love in India than Pakistan’ was not controversial.

“I did not find anything controversial in Afridi’s statement. This was something he felt and he expressed his emotions,” he said.

Waqar also said that it was time to put all the issues behind and concentrate on performance, and that everyone should focus on supporting the Pakistan team.

“I believe we should leave it at that rather than creating a controversy out of nothing. We're here to play cricket, to beat teams,” the head coach added.

"My message to the boys is to just leave everything behind. This is about playing some quality cricket, playing for the nation. They all are capable," he said.

Waqar also hoped that Shahid Afridi will also come out of his bad patch and contribute for the cause of the team. "It takes less than a minute to lose form and to get it back as well. Twenty20 cricket is like that.”

“I hope that Afridi is also one innings away from getting his form back,” he said.

Pakistan will play Bangladesh on Wednesday (March 19) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata to launch their ICC World T20 campaign.