Dubai: Senior Pakistan batsman Mohammad Hafeez yesterday became the first cricketer to refuse to play alongside Mohammad Amir.
The tainted but cleared paceman will feature for Chittagong Vikings in the Bangladesh premier league starting from Wednesday – a team Hafeez said also asked him to join.
“I was approached by my agent to play for the Chittagong team but when I knew that Amir was also in that team so I refused it point blank,” Hafeez said. “I have no personal issues with Amir or Chittagong, it’s my personal opinion that I can’t share the dressing room with someone who hurt my country’s integrity.”
Hafeez added: “If any other team makes me an offer then I will play the league and I have no problems facing Amir as I have played against him in the domestic matches but can’t be in the same team,” said Hafeez, a former Pakistan Twenty20 captain.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan had admitted some senior players were against Amir and other two – Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif.
The trio was caught in a spot-fixing scandal on Pakistan’s tour of England in 2010 and were subsequently banned for five years.