Afridi blames 'senior players' for deliberately playing poorly in NZ match

According to ARY News’ correspondent Shahzad Malik, Pakistan’s T20 national team skipper Shahid Afridi lost his cool and blamed a couple of senior players within the team for conspiring against him. The source also said that Afridi put the blame on some senior players for deliberately not playing well.

Afridi also taunted Umar Akmal by calling him a sifaarishi and said that Akmal had complained to PTI chief Imran Khan that he wanted to bat at number three.

The source confirmed that the same five-member inquiry committee which had been formed to probe the cricket team’s dismal performance at the Asia Cup will also investigate the team’s poor show at ICC World T20. The source also confirmed that the national selection committee would also be replaced when the World T20 tournament is over.

Last night, Pakistan lost to New Zealand by 22 runs which may have sealed the fate for the green shirts. Only Sharjeel Khan managed to score a respectable 47 runs to give his team the opening they needed to chase a mammoth target of 181. Afterwards, the middle order failed to score runs quickly and the boundaries dried up, resulting in Pakistan’s loss.

Pakistan’s batting has not been consistent throughout the tournament and has been the cause for its recent losses not only in the current World Cup but also the Asia Cup, which was won by India.