Shahid Afridi defends Shaheen Afridi

Shahid Afridi has thrown his support behind his son-in-law, Shaheen Afridi, after Shoaib Akhtar slammed the left-arm playmaker for leaving the pitch due to injury in last year’s T20 World Cup final against England.

Akhtar, in a recent interview on local TV, said that Shaheen missed a golden opportunity to become Pakistan’s biggest celebrity as he failed to complete his win at a crucial moment in the aforementioned game.

“If I was in his [Shaheen Afridi] place, I would have become the biggest celebrity in Pakistan during those 12 minutes by playing the same number of deliveries. I would have come to the bowling alley, I would have fallen, I would have broken my knees, but I would have stood up, used an injection to numb my knees and repeated the same thing,” Akhtar said.

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However, Shahid Afridi in a light-hearted way leaned on Akhtar and said it was risky for a pacer’s career to continue with an injury.

“Shoaib Akhtar has received so many injections that he can no longer walk,” Afridi told a local television station.

“You see, this is Shoaib Akhtar’s class. He can do that. It is difficult, however. Not everyone can be Shoaib Akhtar. It’s hard to play with wounds if you take injections and painkillers. Because then you risk further aggravating the injury. Anyway, let’s leave Shoaib Akhtar alone! Afridi said.

England chased Pakistan’s target of 139 runs, courtesy of half a century from Ben Stokes, and won the title.

Shaheen has since recovered from his injury and is currently leading defending champions Lahore Qalandars in the ongoing eighth edition of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL).