Pakistan cricket legend Shahid Afridi took to his X, formerly known as Twitter, account and lashed out at the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President Jay Shah on Wednesday.
Afridi, 46, did not hold back and decided to get back at Shah. While doing so, Boom Boom named all the cricket teams Pakistan hosted in the past few years following Shah's claim about security concerns in the country.
"I came across @JayShah’s statement about security situation in Pakistan. Just to refresh his memory, Pakistan has hosted the following foreign players/teams in the past six years:
2017 – ICC World XI & SL
2018 – WI 2019 – WI (W), BD (W) & SL
2020 – BD, PSL, MCC & Zim
2021 – WI, PSL, SA & WI
2022 – Aus, PSL, WI, BD U19, Ireland (W) & Eng (2),
2023 – NZ (2), PSL, Women’s Exhibition Matches, #AsiaCup2023 (Nep, SL, Afg & BD) & SA (W)
Have no doubts Mr Shah, Pakistan is ready to host @BCCI at the #ICCChampionsTrophy2025," Afridi posted on X.
Afridi’s reaction comes after Shah said Pakistan is not safe for cricket.
"All the full members, media rights holders, and in-stadium rights holders were initially hesitant to commit to hosting the entire tournament in Pakistan. This reluctance stemmed from concerns related to the security and economic situation prevailing in the country," Shah said in a statement on Tuesday.
It has to be mentioned that Shah has made a mockery of the Asia Cup 2023 as despite thunder showers prediction, he decided to hold all the Super Four matches in Colombo instead of Hambantota.
ACC and Shah have been under constant criticism from cricketing circles about the scheduling of the event since Sri Lanka is experiencing heavy rains which is likely to affect the upcoming Super 4 matches but regardless of the backlash, he has decided to keep the same schedule.
The group stage match between India and Pakistan was also washed out due to rain.
India's last group-stage match against Nepal was affected by rain after which the match was reduced to 23 overs during the second innings.
ACC and Shah are not only doing what they want but they are also consistently ignoring the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) who are hosting the Asian event.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has already expressed their disappointment over the unilateral decision to hold Asia Cup matches in Colombo, as scheduled, despite the fact that all members had agreed to shift the Super 4 fixtures to Hambantota due to poor weather.
