Srinagar: Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi has reacted sharply to former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir’s criticism of current Pakistan skipper Babar Azam.
Babar Azam has been under lot of pressure owing to Pakistan not doing well in the ongoing T20 World Cup. Gambhir during commentary had also criticised Babar Azan.
Reacting to Gambhir’s criticism of Babar, Shahid Afridi during Pakistan channel Samaa TV show said that judgement should be constructive and one that leads to the betterment of the player.
“Tournament k baad koshish karenge Babar ko bole ki unke baare mein bhi kuch bole kyuki wo bhi toh ghar jayenge na,” Shahid Afridi said on Samaa TV show.
“(During the tournament, we’ll try and tell Babar to say something about him. Afterall, he (Gambhir) will head straight back home to India too)”.
“There is always criticism but you need to be very careful with words. You should use words that it should come as an advice for the player and you can make the people understand it as well. As far as Babar is concerned, he has given so many match-winning performances. The consistency with which he has scored, very few Pakistan batters have. He may not have risen to the expectations which is why he is facing some flak,” Afridi said.
Earlier Gambhir during the Pakistan vs Netherlands game on Sunday had said, “In my opinion, first, you think about your team instead of yourself; if nothing goes according to your plan, you should have sent Fakhar Zaman up the batting order. This is called selfishness; as a captain, it is easy to be selfish. It is easy for Babar and Rizwan to open the innings for Pakistan and create so many records. If you want to be a leader, you have to think about your team”.
Shahid Afridi talking about India vs Bangladesh match said, India are clear favourites and it will take a miracle for Bangladesh to pull off a win over the mighty Indian team.