Shahid Afridi, the former Pakistan captain, and Pakistan opener Ahmed Shehzad had a rather strong conversation as they discussed the latter’s absence from the national team.
Pakistan’s star batter Ahmed Shehzad has been making headlines of late for statements over his absence from the national setup. Ahmed Shehzad last played for Pakistan in 2019 in a T20I, and last month, he openly criticized the management, the coaching staff, and former coaches for ‘spoiling and hurting’ his career.
Interestingly, Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ramiz Raja was asked to respond to Ahmed Shehzad’s comments, and the former cricketer shunned his statements, insisting that it was “pure frustration.”
Shahid Afridi Revealed He Supported Ahmed Shehzad A Lot When He Was Skipper
On Tuesday, Ahmed Shehzad made an appearance on Pakistan’s television channel, where former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi was also a part of the expert panel. Ahmed Shehzad had played under Shahid Afridi for a large part of his international career, and as the conversation moved to the Pakistan opener’s absence from the team, Shahid Afridi insisted that his support to Ahmed Shehzad as captain also played a role in the latter’s ouster from the team.
“Ahmed was targeted because of me because I supported him a lot. I gave him a lot of chances, which turned out to be a negative thing for him when I left captaincy. I think people thought he was my favourite,” Afridi said.
“I supported him a lot because I wasn’t finding an opener of his ability in Pakistan. He was performing as well. Obviously, he couldn’t perform in all games but he was targeted because of me as well.”
Ahmed Shehzad, however, was surprised at Shahid Afridi’s comment.
“Shahid bhai, listen. I don’t know why you said that. You’ve been a elder brother to me, you can say anything to me. Sometimes, it does hurt me, but you have always been a elder brother to me,” said the Pakistan player.
A few years ago, Ahmed Shehzad was the regular limited-overs cricketer for the Pakistan national cricket team. He has played 13 Tests, 81 ODIs, and 59 T20Is for Pakistan where he has scored 982, 2,605, and 1,471 runs respectively. However, at present, he has hugely struggled to find his spot on the national team.
In 2019, he played his last T20I against Sri Lanka while his last Test and ODIs both were in 2017. He has scored tons in each format and averaged 40.91 in Tests, 32.56 in ODIs, and 25.8 in T20Is.
Shahid Afridi Wants Ahmed Shehzad To Score Runs To Which The Latter Responds He Doesn’t Know Where To Score Runs
Shahid Afridi, then, interrupted him by saying he wants Ahmed Shehzad to score runs, to which the Pakistan batter said that he should at least be given opportunities to play.
“I want you to score runs, enjoy your life with your wife and kids. Allah has made life beautiful for you,” Afridi said, and Shehzad replied, “I keep saying that. I want to score runs, but at least don’t deny me the platforms where I can score. I will ask you, when sides in PSL want to pick me, who comes in and says no? You tell me, where do I score runs? At my home?”
Earlier, former Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal had also revealed that Ahmed Shehzad was denied entry to Pakistan’s high-performance training camp. The right-handed batsman last played for Pakistan in a T20I match against Sri Lanka in October 2019. He has not played a match in the last 3 years but hasn’t announced retirement.