While there were several media reports which claimed a spat between Pakistan captain Babar Azam and their leading speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi after the Pakistan crashed out of Asia Cup 2023 following defeats to India and Sri Lanka in the Super Four stage of the competition. While the left-arm fast bowler had already broken his silence on the issue, skipper Babar also addressed the issue on the eve of Pakistan's departure for World Cup.
Babar was asked about the incident on the eve of Pakistan's departure for the World Cup in Lahore. He explained that when teams tend to lose close games, there are dressing room meetings which is a normal protocol. He added that while every player is respected in such meetings, it might lead to misinterpretations that spark such rumours.
"Respect is given to everyone. You see, whenever the match is close and we lose, it's just a regular meeting, but sometimes it's portrayed as if we had a fight. It shouldn't be like that. Respect should remain constant for everyone. We love each other as much as we do our family," he said in the press conference.
Shaheen had also spoken about the issue. He had taken to social media site X to share a picture of himself with Babar captioning it "family" followed by a heart emoji.
Take a look at the post here:
Pakistan begin their World Cup campaign with a match against Netherlands on October 6. Prior to that, the Men in Green are also set to play two warm-up games against New Zealand and Australia, both of them at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. The same venue will host the Pakistan-Netherlands as well as Pakistan's next match against Sri Lanka on October 10. They will then lock horns against India at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata are the other cities.