Shahid Afridi has snubbed playing in the Bangladesh Premier League to rather represent Pakistan in the upcoming limited-overs series against England.

Bought by the Dhaka Gladiators for a whopping USD 700,000 at Thursday's player auction, the star all-rounder rejected the deal less than 24 hours later.

The inaugural Twenty20 tournament, which runs from 9 to 28 February, clashes with the one-dayers in the United Arab Emirates, with the four ODIs and three T20Is running from 13 to 27 February.

"Unfortunately the dates of the league conflict directly with the one-day and Twenty20 series against England. So, I have decided to skip the Bangladesh event as national duty is more important," said Afridi.

Retired from Test cricket and free to travel the globe as a so-called Twenty20 freelancer, the 31-year-old Afridi is currently with the Melbourne Renegades in Australia's domestic Big Bash League.

"I am looking forward to that series against England, so obviously it was not a difficult choice at all. I am available to play in foreign leagues only when not required on national duty," he added.

Fellow Pakistanis Saeed Ajmal, Rana Naved and Imran Nazir were also bought by Dhaka, though Afridi's price tag was the highest by a long shot.