World Cup 2019: Sarfaraz Ahmed finally responds to Shoaib Akhtar's criticism

What's the story?

Retired Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar has been attracting a lot of attention for severely criticizing the players. His controversial comments on the current Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed took social media by storm, as they were laden with unmistakable anger. However, Sarfaraz has now hit back hard, giving Akhtar a stinging reply during a recent interview.

The background

The Pakistani side have not had a great start to the ICC World Cup 2019 because of their questionable decisions taken on and off the field. They are standing at the 7th position in the points table with just 2 wins under their belt.

Following the poor decisions taken by their captain Sarfaraz, Akhtar expressed his disappointment by releasing a controversial statement on his YouTube channel. The retired cricketer said that Sarfaraz lacks intelligence as he chose to field first after winning the toss against India. He also questioned the capability of the team management, suggesting they had no clue about how to make use of the team's resources.

The heart of the matter

Sarfaraz responded to his critics by securing a brilliant win against South Africa, by a margin of 49 runs. After the match he also hit back at Akhtar by saying in a post-match interview:

“Unke nazar mein to hum player hi nahi hain; Sab khuda ban ke TV pe baithe hain (In their eyes, we are not even players. They have become gods on television).”

Sarfaraz Ahmed "some people are sitting on television thinking they are God" #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/fd8spR7iKm

— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) June 22, 2019

Sarfaraz had a golden opportunity to hit back at Akhtar and other critics, and he didn't let it go.

What's next?

After making a point with the win over South Africa, Sarfaraz would hope to continue the winning momentum against New Zealand on 26 June. Pakistan can still qualify for the semifinals, but they need to win all their remaining matches and hope that certain other results go their way.

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