Legendary Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar and former Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) CEO Shafiq Stanikzai indulged themselves into heated exchange of words on social media after some fans vandalised the property of the iconic Sharjah Stadium.
After Babar Azam-led Pakistan won the match by a wicket against Afghanistan, the Afghan cricket fans went angry and reportedly hurled chairs at fans and followers of the Pakistan cricket team after the nail-biting contest between the two Asian teams.
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Apart creating chaos in the stadium, some fans also got involved in scattered fist-fights outside the match venue. The videos of fans vandalising the Sharjah Stadium property went viral on social media and reacting to one such video, former Pakistan speedster Akhtar called out former ACB CEO Stanikzai and tweeted,
“This is what Afghan fans are doing. This is what they’ve done in the past multiple times. This is a game and its supposed to be played and taken in the right spirit. @ShafiqStanikzai your crowd & your players both need to learn a few things if you guys want to grow in the sport.”
This is what Afghan fans are doing.
This is what they’ve done in the past multiple times.This is a game and its supposed to be played and taken in the right spirit.@ShafiqStanikzai your crowd & your players both need to learn a few things if you guys want to grow in the sport. pic.twitter.com/rg57D0c7t8— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) September 7, 2022
Taking a note of Akhtar’s tweet, Stanikzai lashed out at Akhtar and advised the former cricketer to not blame the entire nation for the incident that happened in the stadium.
“You can’t control the emotions of the crowd and such incidents happened in the world of cricket multiple, you should go ask Kabir Khan, Inzamam Bhai and @iRashidLatif68 how we treated them. Am giving you an advice next time baat ko nation pe Mat lena,” Stanikzai lashed out at Akhtar on Twitter.
You can’t control the emotions of the crowd and such incidents happened in the world of cricket multiple, you should go ask Kabir Khan, Inzimam Bhai and @iRashidLatif68 how we treated them. Am giving you an advice next time baat ko nation pe Mat lena https://t.co/JQTgzWBNqL
— Shafiq Stanikzai (@ShafiqStanikzai) September 7, 2022
Pakistan won the close contest in the final over when bowler Naseem Shah fired back to back sixes against Afghanistan pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi to seal Pakistan’s spot in the final of the Asia Cup 2022.
Pakistan needed 11 runs off the final over and had only one wicket in hand. Shah took the charge of the match and sealed one-wicket win for his nation.
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“When I went in to bat I had the belief to hit the sixes. I practice (hitting sixes) and I knew they would bowl yorkers as they had the field up. There needs to be belief, we keep practising in the nets and I also changed my bat, it worked,” he said.
Pakistan will now be seen in action against the hosts Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup final on September 11 (Sunday).
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