A repentant Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi tendered an unconditional apology to the country and the cricket world after being penalised by the ICC for ball tampering, saying he would not repeat the "mad thing" again in future.
Afridi, who was caught on television biting into the ball during the final overs of the Australian innings in the fifth ODI in Perth and was slapped two Twenty20 International ban, said he was sorry for having caused embarrassment to his countrymen and fans.
"I really don't know what happened to me that made me do such a mad thing. It was not right and I apologize for my actions to everyone," he said.
Afridi was charged with an article 2.2.9 offence of the ICC Code of Conduct which relates to 'changing the condition of the ball in breach of Law 42.3 of the Laws of Cricket'.
He will miss Pakistan's next two Twenty20 Internationals against the same opponents on Friday in Melbourne and against England in Dubai on February 19.
"What happened was very unfortunate and should not have happened. I have learnt from my mistake and will not repeat it again," Afridi said.
"Maybe I lost my cool because our team had not done well in Australia and finally close to a win. But my intentions were just to help the bowlers but I chose the wrong way to do it," he added. PTI
