The match between Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators on Sunday was in the news for the wrong reason – an ugly mid-pitch clash between two high-profile Pakistan national squad members, Wahab Riaz and Ahmed Shehzad. Both the players were fined portions of their match fees, but the trouble boiled over after the match as well.
A lot has been said about the unfortunate clash, and the two players have themselves tweeted their reactions to the incident – with Wahab appearing to be apologetic, and Shehzad looking to wave away the importance of the incident with a joke.
Wahab’s apology:
Shehzad’s scolding:
Shehzad’s interesting chat with journalist:
What Pakistan teammates said:
“The fight shouldn’t have happened in first place because it doesn’t look good but it has happened so we can’t do anything about it now,” Afridi said.
Sarfraz Ahmed said, “It all happened in the heat of the moment and shouldn’t have happened; that’s all I can say about it as we need to move on and focus on challenges ahead.”
The fight in the 5th over of the V-Day match
The ugly incident took place in the fifth over of the Gladiators’ innings, following the wicket of Ahmed Shehzad.
Shehzad, who has recently been dropped from the Pakistan squad, hit Wahab Riaz for a six over mid-wicket off the first ball of the fifth over. Riaz, who is well known for fighting fire with fire, knocked over Shehzad’s stumps off the very next ball, with a well-disguised slower delivery.
He then let out a huge scream, and looked the batsman in the eye. Shehzad, not one to back away either, pointed his bat towards the bowler and said something. The players then came together, and it looked as if Riaz then gave the harder push. Teammates gathered around to diffuse the situation.
Afridi was seen calming down Riaz, while Shehzad’s batting partner stepped in to stop him from reacting to Riaz’s shove.
It was Wahab who had the last laugh – he finished with figures of 2/19 as his side Peshawar Zalmi won by 8 wickets. However, from the disparate tone of the reactions, and also from the respective amounts of fine charged, it would appear that Shehzad is being viewed as the aggrieved party.
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