Pakistan cricket team suffered a five-wicket loss in the final of the T20 World Cup against England on Sunday. The Jos Buttler-led side restricted Pakistan to 137/8 before chasing the target down with an over to spare; all-rounder Ben Stokes was the hero of the match for England, as he played a knock of 52 in 49 deliveries to guide his team over the line.
Following Pakistan's well fought defeat, the side came under heavy criticism for its poor performance but the country's former cricketer Shoaib Akhtar also endured sly dig from Indian pacer Mohammed Shami. After Akhtar tweeted a ‘heartbroken’ emoji after the loss, Shami wrote, “Sorry brother, it's called Karma.”
The tweet did not go down too well in Pakistan media, with news channel Samaa TV talking about it at length in the post-match show. The show's anchor said that Mohammed Shami is “not like retired trolls like Sehwag and Harbhajan” as he talked about the tweet, to which Shahid Afridi broke his silence.
“Ham log jo cricketers hain, we are ambassadors, role models. Hamaari koshish honi chahiye ki ye sab khatm hona chahiye. Ham ek doosre ke padosi hain. Aisi cheezein nahi honi chahiye jiss se nafrat phaile logo ke beech me. Agar ham hi aisa karenge toh aam aadmi se ham kya ummeed rakhenge. (We are cricketers, we are ambassadors and role models. (We are cricketers, we are ambassadors and role models. We should try to end all of this. We are neighbours. We shouldn't do things that cultivate hate. If we start doing such things, what can we expect from the common people),” Afridi said.
“Sports se hamaare relationship behetar rahenge. Inke saath ham khelna chahte hain, Pakistan me dekhna chahte hain. (Our relationships improve with sports. We want to play with them, see them play in Pakistan).”
The former Pakistan skipper also had an advice for Shami following his tweet.
“Agar aap retired player ho... tab bhi nahi karna chahiye. Par aap current team se khel rahe ho, avoid karo inn sab cheezo ko. (Even if you are retired, you shouldn't do this. But you are a part of the current team, you should avoid such things),” said Afridi.
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