A massive fan outrage was seen at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium following Afghanistan’s one-wicket defeat to Pakistan in an Asia Cup 2022 encounter on September 7.
Pakistan sealed a nail-biting thriller in a Super Four game at the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 on Wednesday to seal a spot in the tournament final. The defeat knocked Afghanistan out, as well as ended India’s race to the final after they had lost both their opening games of the round.
The match featured several tense moments at the back-end and was punctuated with an on-field tussle, as Afghanistan seamer Fareed Ahmed and Pakistan batter Asif Ali had an intense go at each other following the latter’s dismissal in the 19th over of the 130-run chase. The two players had to be separated by the on-field umpires Anil Kumar Chaudhary and Jayaraman Madanagopal.
Pakistan’s No.10 Naseem Shah struck back-to-back sixes off Fazalhaq Farooqi in the final over to seal the game for his side and prompt wild celebration from his teammates and fans in the stands.
However, in an unfortunate series of events, videos resurfaced of Afghanistan fans attacking the Pakistan supporters at the venue while also damaging its property. The fights continued outside the ground, too, with Pakistan fans being attacked on the streets.
Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar expressed his disapproval at the series of events and took to Twitter while tagging ACB chief Shafiq Stanikzai.
“This is what Afghan fans are doing. This is what they’ve done in the past multiple times. This is a game and it’s supposed to be played and taken in the right spirit. @ShafiqStanikzai your crowd & your players both need to learn a few things if you guys want to grow in the sport,” he tweeted.
