Imran Khan clarifies his remarks about foreign players
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Imran Khan has said that his recent remarks about foreign cricketers who played the Pakistan Super League final in Lahore was not meant to humiliate them, for those were 'all pure cricketing terms of his time'.
Khan invited a storm of criticism for his remarks about overseas cricketers in PSL final on Monday, which many deemed as derogatory.
Speaking on Geo News program 'Capital Talk' with anchorperson Hamid Mir, the former Pakistan skipper, however, denied having used derogatory or racist lingos.
"We used the terms like Renu Katta, Fokker or Jet to describe cricketers, when we used to play at Lahore Gymkhana," he said.
"We referred Renu Katta to a player who would both bowl and bat, but would not perform either way. These terms are not derogatory, they rather describe marginal players," he explained.
Asked about comments being relayed by Indian media as 'racist', Khan outrightly denied it saying, "I have always fought against racism. I and Viv Richards always refused to play counties, where there racism existed".
Questioned about his opposition to hosting of PSL final in Lahore in contrast with his earlier stance on the event, the skipper said: "The situation before February 21 was different which is why I supported the idea of hosting the PSL final in Lahore, but the series of terror attacks in the country made me oppose the same thing.
"Had there been even a firecracker boom anywhere in Lahore, it would have buried international cricket in Pakistan."
Imran Khan argued will foreign teams come to Pakistan only by having witnessed the PSL final being played in Lahore. "They want peace in Pakistan to play cricket here, not just hosting of a final."
