Afridi insists remarks over women's cricketers' cooking skills taken out of 'context'

Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has reportedly insisted that his remarks about women's cricket have been taken out of 'context' and the player has sought to bat away the controversy surrounding the issue.

Afridi reportedly came under fire this week following the circulation of a TV interview footage which showed the big-hitter praising women's cooking skills in response to a question whether women should play cricket.

According to The Dawn, Afridi said that he was shocked to listen to 'all the stuff' regarding the interview adding that only half his answer has been put on the net, which he believes is an attempt to 'malign his popularity'.

Afridi further said that he has always been a 'big supporter' of women's cricket and he tried to get sponsorship for them, adding that a big number of his fans are female and he has always respected them and tried to accommodate them whenever they needed support.

Pakistan's former international women's player Kainat Imtiaz backed Afridi and said that the star has always been a great supporter of women's cricket and whenever the two used to cross paths in the national academy in Lahore he helped the women cricket team and encouraged them, the report added.