Shahid Afridi, the former Pakistan skipper and a personality who frequently lands in some controversy off the field, has now come out to explain why his daughter was waving an Indian flag during the India-Pakistan Super 4 match in the recently concluded Asia Cup in Dubai.
On the September 4 match between the two arch-rivals, images and videos of Shahid Afridi’s daughter holding and waving an Indian tricolour flag went viral, leaving both countrymen surprised and stunned.
This led to plenty of questioning from Pakistani fans, the answer of which now Afridi himself has given.
The 42-year-old former all-rounder, who was in the Dubai stadium to watch the game with his family, revealed that his wife told him that there weren’t any Pakistani flags around and only approximately 10% of Pakistani supporters were there in the stands with Indian supporters filling 90 percent of the stadium.
Shahid Afridi recalled that his daughter wanted to wave a flag but there was no Pakistani flag available at that moment and to fulfill her wish she got hold of an Indian flag and started waving it.
“My wife told me that there were barely 10% Pakistani fans in the stadium and the rest were Indian fans. Pakistani flags were not available there so my younger daughter was waving the Indian flag. I received the video, but I was unsure about whether to share it online or not,” Afridi said in a news interview for Samaa TV.
Why Shahid Afridi’s daughter was holding Indian flag???…#pakvsindia #PakvInd #INDvPAK pic.twitter.com/nV4HTMgodR
— Muhammad Noman (@nomanedits) September 5, 2022
Pakistan won the Super 4 match against India by 5 wickets; India had previously defeated Babar Azam’s side in the Group A game by 5 wickets.
But, Pakistan reached the final courtesy of their wins over India and Afghanistan in Super 4 while Rohit Sharma’s team, after losing to Pakistan and Sri Lanka, were knocked out of the tournament.
In the final, though, Pakistan suffered a shocking 23-run loss from the hands of Sri Lanka, who were lifted by spirited performances from Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Wanindu Hasaranga to become the Asia Cup champions for the first time since 2014.
This has exposed Pakistan on multiple fronts: their opening pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan is slower to modern T20 standards; the middle-order needs firepower against spinners and the pace attack lacked strength, especially in the death, in the absence of Shaheen Afridi.
Pakistan will host England for 7 T20Is in the coming weeks before flying to New Zealand for a tri-series involving Bangladesh. Pakistan’s will meet India on Ocotber 23 at the MCG for the Super 12 round of the T20 World Cup 2022.
