A defiant Shahid Afridi on Monday in Karachi made a startling allegation that every team indulges in ball-tampering even though felt he should not have done it.
Banned for two Twenty20 Internationals for biting the ball during the fifth and final ODI against Australia in Perth, Afridi said ball-tampering was nothing new and that only his method was wrong.
"There is no team in the world that doesn't tamper with the ball," said Afridi in his defence.
"My methods were wrong. I am embarrassed, I shouldn't have done it. I just wanted to win us a game but this was the wrong way to do it," Afridi was quoted as saying by the local media.
Caught on camera biting the ball during the Perth ODI, Afridi said he was only trying to help the bowlers but ended up doing it the wrong way.
"I shouldn't have done it. It just happened. I was trying to help my bowlers and win a match, one match," he said.
"I apologise to all and everyone involved in the match and to the fans around the world. This will never happen again," he added.
Afridi pleaded for forgiveness and conceded that being the stand-in captain he should have been more careful.
"Being the captain I should have been a role-model for my players which I was not, but I hope I will be forgiven," he said.
Meanwhile, a television footage of Afridi allegedly admitting to frequently ball tampering has surfaced.
"Only (a) few get to do some bit of ball tampering. If the weather is dry and hot then you can get some help from the pitch while bowling. But you also have to help the ball yourself. You have to tamper with the ball to make it swing (on subcontinental pitches).
"It spells death for bowlers if you don't tamper with the ball. You can get some help from the pitch but even then you have to 'make' the ball," Afridi goes on to admit.
He in fact went to the extent of saying that ball-tampering should be legalised by the ICC.
"The game and its rules are changing. You should be allowed to tamper with the ball after the 30th or 40th over," he says in the footage. PTI
