Pakistan vs Afghanistan, Asia Cup: Shoaib Akhtar fumes at heated exchange between Asif Ali, Fareed Ahmed

On Wednesday, at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Pakistan and Afghanistan played a game that was an absolute thriller. Afghanistan’s bowlers put on a display as they bowled out half of Pakistan’s hitters with five overs remaining after posting a below-par total of 129 on the board. The drama however was reserved for the final five overs especially when Fazalhaq Farooqi came into the attack. The seamer got the better of dangerous Asif Ali and ugly scenes unfolded after that.

With his quickness, the left-arm quick tricked Ali and made him miscue the pull at short fine leg. Fareed Ahmad could not contain his emotions as he gave the batter a stern send-off because he had taken a huge wicket at a significant time.

Ali was walking disappointedly back to the dugout when Ahmad approached him and celebrated in his face. Ali became upset at this and pushed Ahmad. The Pakistani batter also indicated that he would slam his bat at the bowler. Both of them got into a short verbal battle. However, finally, on-field umpires and Afghanistan players intervened and separated the players.

After Ali’s wicket, youngster Naseem Shah came in to bat and turned out to be the hero for Pakistan.

Following Pakistan’s victory, Afghanistan supporters who had gathered at the stadium to see their team play became furious at their team’s loss. They were seen hurling chairs towards Pakistan supporters. A few Afghan supporters were also seen assaulting some Pakistani fans.

Referring to the scene at the stadium, former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar shared a tweet on his account along with a clip of the mayhem. He wrote in the caption, This is what Afghan fans are doing. This is what they’ve done in the past multiple times. This is a game and it is supposed to be played and taken in the right spirit.”

Further, he tagged former Afghan cricketer Shafiq Stanikzai and suggested that Afghanistan fans and cricketers should learn certain things to shine in the game in future.

Fans also became outrageous after witnessing the on-field scenario. A lot of tweets surfaced on the internet as fans expressed their discontent over the matter.

A Pakistani fan blamed the Afghanistan players for the occurrence and raised questions about their sportsmanship.

Asif Ali’s attitude seemed unacceptable to an individual.

A person highlighted the behaviour of the Afghan fans at the stands.

Here are some other reactions:

Pakistan have now advanced to the Asia Cup final, where they will compete against Sri Lanka. Afghanistan will play India in a dead rubber match because both teams have already been eliminated from the competition.