Pakistan faced a five-wicket defeat to England in the final of the T20 World Cup on Thursday. After England restricted the side to 137/8, a match-winning knock from Ben Stokes (52*) crushed Pakistan's hopes for a second World Cup title in the format. To make things worse, Babar Azam's men also endured an injury setback as their star pacer Shaheen Afridi was forced to walk off the field during the 16th over of the match.
Afridi seemingly hurt himself immediately after he took Harry Brook's catch early in the run-chase; while the player had left the field after the dismissal, he returned a few overs later and even prepared to bowl the 16th over. The pacer bowled a delivery before deciding to eventually walk off. Iftikhar Ahmed completed Afridi's over, conceding 13 runs in five deliveries that eventually proved to be the turning point in the game, as England secured a victory with an over to spare.
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Following the loss, Pakistan's batsmen faced criticism for their poor effort but Aaqib Javed, the side's former fast bowler, also attacked the side's medical team for its poor treatment of Shaheen Afridi.
“Aapka jo medical panel hai, unhone Fakhar ko bhi kaha ki aap fit hain aur kuch hi over khelne ke baad vo unfit ho gaye. Ye pata karna padega, inquiry karni padegi kya uss insaan ko sports injury ka pata hai bhi ki nahi? (Your medical panel declared Fakhar fit as well, but he became unfit after a few overs. We need to make an inquiry on whether they even know anything about sports injury?),” Aaqib Javed said on GEO Super.
{{/usCountry}}“Aapka jo medical panel hai, unhone Fakhar ko bhi kaha ki aap fit hain aur kuch hi over khelne ke baad vo unfit ho gaye. Ye pata karna padega, inquiry karni padegi kya uss insaan ko sports injury ka pata hai bhi ki nahi? (Your medical panel declared Fakhar fit as well, but he became unfit after a few overs. We need to make an inquiry on whether they even know anything about sports injury?),” Aaqib Javed said on GEO Super.
{{/usCountry}}“Shaheen aaye, inko bhi unhone shuru me khilaaya when he wasn't fit enough to play World Cup games. Aur uske baad aaj bhi, jahan se hamne shuru kiya, dono unfit the aur World Cup ke baad bhi dono unfit hain. (Shaheen was played when he wasn't fit enough for World Cup. Today, we are exactly where we started; with two injured players),” said the former Pakistan star further.
Aaqib further said that players like Shaheen Afridi come once in a while and it wasn't mandatory to play him in this World Cup.
“Maine World Cup ke pehle bhi kaha tha ki Shaheen is important -- not for World Cup kyunki vo toh do saal baad firse aa jaayega. Shaheen jaisa bowler, agar kuch nuksaan hua, toh kaise aap paida karoge? I'm very disappointed with Pakistan cricket board's medical panel. (I said this before the World Cup, Shaheen is important but World Cup comes every two years. How will you bring another Shaheen?),” said Javed.