Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar criticised Shaheen Afridi for leaving the field during the T20 World Cup final, whereas Shahid Afridi contradicted Akhtar’s views and slammed him.
Pakistan suffered a defeat against England in the final of the recently concluded T20 World Cup in Australia. The Asian side had managed to put in a mere 137/8 in 20 overs but the bowling unit kept them in the hunt as they picked regular wickets.
But the situation went out of control at the end of the 16th over. Left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi had earlier hurt his knee while taking a catch and was taken out of the field. But the fast bowler came back on the field, only to return back to the dugout.
Captain Babar Azam had initially handed the ball to Shaheen for the 16th over but he could only manage to bowl one delivery before he limped off the field. Babar then gave the ball to spinner Iftikhar Ahmed who ended up leaking 13 runs in five balls that certainly turned the course of the match.
Former Pakistan bowler Shoaib Akhtar criticised Shaheen and went on to say that he should have taken painkillers and continued bowling.
“When your main bowler becomes unfit, then it creates problems for you. Shaheen (Afridi) was never fully fit, but we cannot put the entire blame on him as he bowled well in the past 2-3 matches. But this is the World Cup final. Even if the leg breaks. Whatever happens, happens. Just keep running and do something. But this was not in our fortune,” he told Zee News.
“When you numb your feet, the pain is not felt. Yes, you are risking the career of the young man. It is a World Cup final, and whether you can risk or not that you have to think as a captain. It is a tough decision,” he added.
Meanwhile, former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi reacted to Akhtar’s comments and said that painkillers have a lot of side effects.
“Nehin, nehin, nehin…main nehin samajhta ki yeh jayas baat hai. Painkillers sirf akhti taur pe hota hai. Humne bhi bohot dafa kiya hai. But uske bhi side effects bohot saare hote hai. Kyunki uss time toh sunn ho jati hai and pain khatam ho jati hai, but pain aur zyada bar jaati hai next day (No, no…not at all, it’s wrong. Painkillers should be taken in a disciplined manner. I too used to take it. But it has a lot of side effects. It does numb the pain for a while, but after the match day, it tends to pain even more),” Shahid Afridi said on Samaa TV.
England eventually chased down the target by five wickets to lift their second T20 title.
Shaheen Afridi is set to miss significant red-ball action as he will be unavailable for the home Test series against England and New Zealand.
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