World Cup 2019: "You have chosen money over country," says Shoaib Akhtar as he lashes out at AB de Villiers

What's the story?

Shoaib Akhtar has been very active on social media after his retirement from cricket. Recently, the Pakistani pacer lashed out on the South African star, AB de Villiers who had retired from international cricket in 2018 yet wanted to return to the national colours to play the ICC World Cup 2019. Shoaib stated in his YouTube video that the Mr.360 had chosen money over his country.

In case you didn't know...

One of the greatest South African batsmen of all time, AB de Villiers announced his retirement from international cricket in the year 2018. This news created havoc in the cricketing world. However, AB de Villiers grabbed the headlines when he requested the South African Cricket Board to come out of retirement and play in World Cup 2019. But, the board denied him.

The heart of the matter

Despite being off-field, Shoaib Akhtar has been constantly involving himself in the controversial matters with his statements. Just after making scathing remarks on Pakistani skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, the fast bowler commented on AB de Villiers’ post-retirement plans. Akhtar stated that AB de Villiers chose money over his country as he decided to play league cricket and leave his country behind. Shoaib even called AB de Villiers a 'headline grabber'.

You can watch the entire video here:

What's next?

South Africa have not had a great start to CWC 2019 as they have lost their first 3 games of the tournament. The team will be hoping to get going in the latter stages of the World Cup. Their next game is against the West Indies on 10th June.

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