Afghanistan's Shahzad says he will quit cricket if 'that's what they want'

Afghanistan opener Mohammad Shahzad stirred a controversy after claiming he had been unfairly ruled out of the ICC World Cup 2019 and ‘can quit cricket if that is what they want.’

According to a report by ESPNcricinfo, the 32-year-old right-handed opening batsman was declared unfit by the Afghanistan Cricket Board while the player insists that the claim was ‘incorrect’.

"I don't know what is the problem. If they have a problem, they should let me know. If they don't want me to play, I will quit cricket,” he was reported to have said.

In spite of the wicket keeper retiring hurt amidst Afghanistan’s warmup match against Pakistan, he played the team’s initial two matches in the tournament where he was sent back to the hut after a three-ball duck as the team played against Australia while in the second game against Sri Lanka, he made seven runs off 12 balls.

On the other hand, Asadullah Khan refuted Shahzad’s claim saying: “It's absolutely wrong to say that he was unfairly dropped. We have given a medical report to the ICC to prove that he is unfit, and after thorough deliberation they allowed us to replace him. He is our main batsman, who can make a big difference with the bat, and it was a really difficult decision to drop one of our key players."