Babar Azam & Shaheen Afridi engaged in heated exchange after Pakistan's Asia Cup loss to Sri Lanka: Reports

Pakistan captain Babar Azam and speedster Shaheen Afridi were reportedly involved in a heated argument after their team crashed out of the Asia Cup following a heartbreaking loss in the Super Fours against Sri Lanka on Thursday.

According to BolNews, Babar was frustrated with the loss and criticised the senior players for not stepping up in a virtual knockout game. Shaheen interrupted Babar by asking the latter to look at the positives and appreciate those who performed well.

The interruption didn't go down well with the Pakistan captain, as he took a dig at Shaheen by claiming that he knew who gave their best and who didn't. That led to a heated argument.Tthe Pakistan coach as well as wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan had to intervene to calm the two players down in the dressing room.

The reports also claimed that after the argument, Azam left for the press conference and went straight into the team bus and then to the team hotel and didn't communicate with anyone.

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Babar Azam addressed reasons for loss against Sri Lanka

Babar Azam was pretty blunt in his assessment of where Pakistan lost the game against Sri Lanka.

He shed light on how poorly they batted in their middle overs and felt that their failure to break the partnership between Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama cost them the game:

"We weren't up to the mark with our bowling and fielding. That's why we lost.

"In the middle overs, we are not bowling well. That partnership (between Mendis and Samarawickrama) cost us. We are starting well. We are finishing well, but we are not taking wickets in the middle overs."

Pakistan are now in danger of losing their ace speedster Naseem Shah for the World Cup with a shoulder injury, which he sustained during the Asia Cup Super Fours game against India earlier in the week.