Shaheen Afridi speaks up on viral 'luggage-loading' video

Pakistan’s T20I skipper Shaheen Afridi revealed the facts behind the viral video of his teammates loading their luggage by themselves onto a container truck in Australia.

Watch ARY News live on live.arynews.tv

Pakistan team, led by star batter Shan Masood, had arrived in Australia to play a three-match Test series against Pat Cummins’ men. Shortly after they arrived at the Sydney Airport, a video of the visiting players loading their bags in the truck made rounds on social media.

Pakistan team has reached Australia to play 3 match Test series starting December 14.

Pakistani players loaded their luggage on the truck as no official was present. pic.twitter.com/H65ofZnhlF

— Cricketopia (@CricketopiaCom) December 1, 2023

The moment divided social media as some believed there was no problem in players doing their work. At the same time, the other half condemned Australia authorities for not helping the Green Shirts cricketer out of “arrogance”.

Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi, who will lead the bowling attack in the bilateral series, revealed the truth behind the visual in a conversation with a private channel. He said they took it upon themselves to work as they had to catch a flight and save time.

“We only had 30 minutes to catch our next flight, and we helped because there were just two people,” he said. “We wanted to wrap it up fast and save time. We call this team a family and helped them as a family.”

Australia are hosting Pakistan for a three-match Test series. The series will commence on December 14 at Perth’s Optus Stadium. The second fixture is scheduled to be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 26th.

The Sydney Cricket Ground will host the third and final Test on January 3rd.

Squad:

Shan Masood (captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Afridi.