Former Pakistan pacer, Shoaib Akhtar, has slammed the Afghanistan cricket team players for their arrogant behavior on the field in their high-octane clash against Pakistan in the Super 4s stage of the 2022 Asia Cup.
Shoaib’s comments were targeted at Afghanistan pacer, Fareed Ahmed, who went overboard with his celebrations after dismissing Pakistan’s explosive middle-order batter, Asif Ali. Fareed hurled abuses at Asif while Asif retaliated by pushing him aside. Fareed went on to abuse Asif further, who in return raised his bat at the pacer, but quickly realized his mistake and headed back to the pavilion without further altercation.
In the aftermath of the unsavory behavior of the Afghanistan speedster, Naseem Shah stepped up to rescue the Men in Green as he smacked Fazalhaq Farooqi for two consecutive sixes in the last over to secure a thrilling victory for Pakistan. Naseem’s heroics helped Pakistan secure a spot in the final while simultaneously knocking out Afghanistan and India from the tournament.
The Rawalpindi Express believes Afghanistan’s arrogant behavior and their misconduct on the field led to their downfall in the match. He said that emotions do run high in cricket but it is the duty of the players to keep them in check and play within the code and conduct set by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Here’s the video of Shoaib’s comments:
Afghan players put right back into their place by 19 year old kid Naseem Shah. Unforgettable match against people we have loved & supported always.
Lekin bat tamizi aur arrogance nay un no foran neecha dikhaya.Full video: https://t.co/u3LsS2GfrD pic.twitter.com/X6Obdq35bj
— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) September 7, 2022
Shoaib also criticized the popular cricket website, ESPNcricinfo, for its biased and one-sided reporting of the Asif-Fareed incident. Cricinfo had uploaded a few images which portrayed Asif as the instigator of the incident. Shoaib took to Twitter to criticize their reporting.
Biased & one sided representation of the incident. We all know what happened there. Come on guys, you're @ESPNcricinfo . https://t.co/7ACxqI7ite
— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) September 7, 2022
