"It never happened with me that a girl came without clothes on the pitch" - Ahmed Shehzad opens up on playing in front of female fans at stadium
Pakistan batter Ahmed Shehzad has shared his experience of playing international cricket in front of female fans at the stadium. He disclosed that some senior players would specifically field in areas with more female fans because they got extra motivation to perform well.
During an appearance on the Nadir Ali podcast, Pakistan batter Ahmed Shehzad was asked if he ever had a weird experience with a female fan. When asked if any female fan came in front of him without any clothes, Shehzad replied:
"It never happened with me that a girl came in front of me without clothes on the pitch. So, I don't know how to react, and no, I don't have any regrets." [13.00 onwards]
During the same chat, Shehzad further mentioned that some of his senior players preferred to stand in areas of the ground, where there were more female spectators.
"I have heard some senior players say that prefer fielding in areas where there are girls because they get extra motivation to perform well. As long as it is good for the team, it is fine, but if you getting distracted, then it is wrong. The best way to decide how it works for the player is the player himself," Shehzad opined.
"There's no comparison of match fees" - Ahmed Shehzad discloses current players are making almost 20 times the money he got during his initial days
Ahmed Shehzad made his debut for Pakistan in 2009. The Pakistan batter spoke about the growth in the central contract money for Pakistan players over the last 15 years and said:
"There's no comparison of match fees. When I was playing, the B category players in central contract earned 2.5 lakh PKR. The same contract pays you 40 lakh PKR now. In the A category, you get 55 to 60 lakh PKR per month. Match fees are separate."
Shehzad concluded by saying that the current lot of Pakistan players are chasing money instead of focusing on their performance. Hence, he felt that the team's performance was not the same as before.