“Where was his aggression when Williamson scored 200?” - Danish Kaneria hits out at Shaheen Afridi over spat with Sarfaraz Ahmed
Former Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria has blasted Lahore Qalandars pacer Shaheen Afridi for getting involved in an ugly spat with Quetta Gladiators’ skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed during Tuesday’s PSL 2021 encounter.
Words were exchanged between Shaheen Afridi and Sarfaraz Ahmed after the former hit the Quetta Gladiators captain on his helmet with a bouncer in the first innings of the match.
Lashing out at Shaheen Afridi in his latest YouTube video, Kaneria questioned Shaheen Afridi’s behavior. He pointed out that Sarfaraz Ahmed was the national captain when the left-arm pacer entered the international arena. An angry Kaneria opined:
“Shaheen Afridi should not have reacted (like that). He misbehaved with his ex-captain Sarfaraz Ahmed. When Shaheen Afridi was playing under Sarfaraz, he had a bowling average of 19. Today, under Babar Azam’s captaincy, his average is 30. If you look at his performance, he has dismissed very few batters from the top 5.”
Taking further digs at Shaheen Afridi, the former leg-spinner questioned:
“Where was his aggression when Williamson scored 200? Sarfaraz was the one who encouraged Shaheen Afridi when he was leading Pakistan. It is so bad to see a youngster misbehaving with a senior player and an ex-captain. Just because Sarfaraz’s stature is not the same in Pakistan cricket now, it doesn’t mean Shaheen Afridi can have a go at a senior like that.”
Shaheen Afridi should have been punished: Danish Kaneria
After the game, the match referee had a word with both the players and reprimanded them, asking the duo to exercise restraint in the future. However, according to Kaneria, Shaheen Afridi got away lightly and should have been given a stricter punishment. He stated:
“Shaheen Afridi was let away lightly by the match referee. He should have been punished. Sarfaraz also said something, so action should have been taken against him as well. But what Shaheen Afridi did is just not acceptable.”
According to Kaneria, bad behavior has become a culture in Pakistan cricket and PCB isn’t doing anything to stop it. Speaking on the issues, Kaneria stated:
“Players have even hit each other with bats in the dressing room. Some have even slapped each other. This has become a culture in Pakistan cricket. Even the PCB is doing nothing to improve the situation. A few years back, there was a bitter spat between Javed Miandad and Shahid Afridi, which ended with them exchanging sweets. So this is commonplace in Pakistan cricket.”
The Quetta Gladiators defeated the Lahore Qalandars by 18 runs in Tuesday’s encounter. While Sarfaraz Ahmed was unbeaten on 34 from 27 balls, Shaheen Afridi conceded 28 runs in his four overs without claiming a wicket.