Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi continued the war of words with Indian pacer Mohammed Shami, after the latter trolled Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar. Babar Azam’s Pakistan side lost by five wickets to Jos Buttler-led England in the T20 World Cup 2022 final on Sunday (November 13).
Shami took a dig at legendary Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar, terming the loss as ‘Karma’. Top knocks from openers Alex Hales and Jos Buttler powered England to an emphatic 10-wicket win over India in the second semi-final of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup in Australia at Adelaide on Thursday.
Akhtar had posted a heartbreak emoji after the loss on Twitter. Shami responded to the post by saying, “Sorry brother, It’s call karma.”
Sorry brother
It’s call karma ___ https://t.co/DpaIliRYkd– Mohammad Shami (@MdShami11) November 13, 2022
Notably, Akhtar had slammed India after their semifinal exit in the showpiece event. Afridi told Shami that he should act like a ‘role model’ and said ‘nafrat khatam honi chahiye’. “Hum log jo cricketers hain, we are ambassadors, role models. Our efforts should be to end all this. We are neighbors of each other. I don’t want such cheese to be hated by those who hate me. Agar ham hi aisa karenge toh aam aadmi se ham kya ummeed rakhenge. (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.
Afridi said that sports and cricket can help improve and retired cricketers should refrain from saying all this. “Sports se hamaare relationship behetar rahenge. Inke saath ham khelna chahte hain, Pakistan me dekhna chahte hain. (Our relations improve with sports. We want to play against them, see them play in Pakistan).
“Agar aap retired player ho… tab bhi nahi karna chahiye. If you are playing with the current team, avoid everything. (Even if you are retired, you shouldn’t do this. But you are a part of the current team, you should avoid such things),” the former Pakistan captain added.