Shahid Afridi backtracks from statement against Misbah-ul-Haq
Veteran all-rounder Shahid Afridi has backtracked from the recent statement against head coach Misbah-ul-Haq regarding his performance in the semi-final of the 2011 International Cricket Council World Cup.
Afridi was leading the side during the much-awaited encounter on March 30, 2011, against the arch-rivals India in Mohali where the Men in Green suffered a 29-run defeat.
Misbah has been largely criticized for his slow batting performance during the match where he ended up scoring 56 off 76 balls with the help of five boundaries and a six.
Afridi, in a recent interview, while talking to Arab News, criticized the current head coach’s batting performance during the high-voltage clash by saying: “It is in Misbah’s nature to take too much time to get settled on the crease. We needed to get the scoreboard ticking.”
“The team comes under pressure when you play too many dot balls.”
However, on Tuesday, the Multan Sultans’ veteran all-rounder issued a statement on his official Twitter account where he claimed that he was ‘misquoted’.
Unfortunately I have been misquoted in this interview. The 2011 defeat was due to batting failure of the team. The batsmen including myself didn’t sustain pressure of the chase. No blame on any individual! pic.twitter.com/pgZFrnSWfH
— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) September 29, 2020
India went on to beat Sri Lanka by six wickets in Mumbai to be crowned the 50-over world champions for the second time.
