'Unko Chahiye ki...' - Shaheen Afridi lashes out at former Pakistan cricketers following team's entry into semi-finals

Following an unexpected setback with the South African team at the hands of the Dutch team, Pakistan has made a surprising entry to the knockouts of the ongoing 20-20 World Cup 2022. Notably, the men in green were earlier on the edge of being knocked out from the tournament following two successive defeats against India and Zimbabwe.

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The defeats with close margins left Babar’s men on the receiving end of harsh criticism from some of the former Pakistan cricketers and experts of the game of their country. After securing a berth in the semi-finals, Shaheen Afridi didn’t fail to give a befitting reply to a former cricketer who was a critique of their national team in a lean patch.

Ace speedster admitted that the Pakistani team has reached through to the semi-finals due to the prayers of all the fans. Later on, he went a bit blunt while answering a question about the criticism from the former cricketers.

They're supposed to support us at our difficult times - Shaheen Afridi

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"Fans ki vajah se hi ham semi-final me pohoche hain. Unki dua hai, jo apne log karte hain. Mera ye hai ki kabhi kabhi dil ko lagta hai ki jo hamaare top ke cricketer hain, unko chahiye ki mushkil time me vo team ko support karein. Ye nahi ki ham semi-final aur final jeete, fir support kare. Team ko support uss time chahiye jab team haare. Logon ki dua ki vajah se ham semi-final jeete, unka support hamesha hamaare saath hai.

(We reached the semi-finals because of fans' prayers. I sometimes feel in my heart that our top cricketers need to support us at our difficult times, and not when we reach the semi-finals or finals. The team needs support when we lose. We won because of the fans' prayers and their support),” said Afridi to reporters during the post-match presentation following the clash between Pakistan and Bangladesh.