“Targeted Because Of Me”: Shahid Afridi On Out-Of-Favour Pakistan Batter

While Shehzad played majority of his cricket under the captaincy of Afridi, the former Pakistan captain feels that the batter was targetted because of him

Out-of-favour Pakistan batter Ahmed Shehzad is eyeing a comeback in the national team. Shehzad, who last played for Pakistan in 2019, was dropped from the team after a lean patch with the bat, which was followed by a long-term injury that kept him out of the game. However, the 30-year-old has openly criticized the management and the former coaches for his downfall. Shehzad recently made an appearance during Pakistan’s Samaa TV, where former captain Shahid Afridi was also part of the debate.

While Shehzad played majority of his cricket under the captaincy of Afridi, the former Pakistan captain feels that the batter was targetted because of him.

“Ahmed was targeted because of me because I supported him a lot. I gave him a lot of chances, which turned out to be a negative thing for him when I left captaincy, after retirement. I think people thought he was close to me. I supported him a lot because I wasn’t finding an opener of his ability in Pakistan. He was performing as well. Obviously, he couldn’t perform in all games but he was targeted because of me as well,” Afridi said during a discussion on Samaa TV.

Shehzad, however, was surprised at Afridi’s comments and replied: “Shahid bhai, listen. I don’t know why you said that. You’ve been an elder brother to me, you can say anything to me. Sometimes, it does hurt me, but you have always been a elder brother to me.”

Afridi than interrupted Shehzad and said that he wants him to score runs and enjoy, to which the Lahore-born batter replied that he atleast be given opportunities to play.

“I want you to score runs, enjoy your life with your wife and kids. Allah has made life beautiful for you. I keep saying that,” Afridi added.

“I want to score runs, but at least don’t deny me the platforms where I can score. I will ask you, when sides in PSL want to pick me, who comes in and says no? You tell me, where do I score runs? At my home?,” Shehzad replied.

Notably, Shehzad recently played for Central Punjab in the Pakistan cup, scoring 456 runs in 11 matches at an average of 456.