UAE: Two Pakistani national players - Sarfaraz Ahmed of Quetta Gladiators and Shaheen Afridi of Lahore Qalandars - indulged in a verbal spat during a Pakistan Super League (PSL) match. The incident took place after Shaheen Afridi's bouncer hit Sarfaraz on the helmet.
The batsman did not take it very well. He took the single of that ball and as he reached the bowling crease, he uttered a few words towards Shaheen. The commentators said that Sarfaraz was perhaps asking Shaheen to cool down a bit.
Take a look at the video here:
Sarfaraz was hit on the head but did not have any symptoms of concussion. His gesture towards the bowler asking him to allegedly "cool down" did not sit well with the commentators either.
Nonetheless, the players - as they usually do - did not take the incident outside the playing field. “It's all part of the game. I also don't like being hit for a boundary,” said Shaheen during the innings break in the match between Lahore and Quetta. Although later he clarified saying “He [Sarfaraz] asked me to apologise for the bouncer but why should I do that? It’s my right to bowl bouncers," to sources of Cricket Pakistan.
The incident prompted a lot of social media reactions. Commentator Ramiz Raja in a tweet wrote: “Fronting up to rivals and eyeballing your opponent is what the contest is about, within given parameters of course. Sarfraz and Shaheen Afridi’s needle about turf possession just took this PSL to a different level."
The match was won by Quetta Gladiators. They scored 158 runs in the first innings, with Sarfaraz scoring 34 runs. Lahore Qalandars were bundled out for a score of 140 runs. Usman Shinwari who took 3 wickets was adjudged man of the match.