Shehzad recently made an appearance on Pakistan’s Samaa TV, where former skipper Shahid Afridi was also part of the discussion, and Shehzad played a large part of his cricket under the leadership of Afridi, he feels that the batter was targeted because of him.
Undesirable Pakistan opener-batter Ahmed Shehzad is peering toward a rebound in the national team. Shehzad, who last played for Pakistan in 2019, was dropped from the side after a lean patch with the bat, which was trailed by a drawn-out injury that kept him out of the game.
However, the opener-batter has openly criticized the management and the former coaches for his downfall. Shehzad recently made an appearance during Pakistan’s Samaa TV, where former skipper Shahid Afridi was also part of the discussion.
While Shehzad played a large part of his cricket under the captaincy of Afridi, the former Pakistan skipper feels that the batter was targeted because of him.
“Ahmed was targeted because of me because I supported him a lot. I gave him a lot of chances, which turned out to be a negative thing for him when I left the captaincy, after retirement. I think people thought he was close to me. I supported him a lot because I wasn’t finding an opener of his ability in Pakistan. He was performing as well. Obviously, he couldn’t perform in all games but he was targeted because of me as well,”
Afridi said during a discussion on Samaa TV.
Shehzad, however, was surprised at Afridi’s comments and replied:
“Shahid Bhai, listen. I don’t know why you said that. You’ve been an elder brother to me; you can say anything to me. Sometimes, it does hurt me, but you have always been an elder brother to me.”
Afridi then interrupted Shehzad and said that he wants him to score runs and enjoy, to which the Lahore-born batter replied that he at least be given opportunities to play.
“I want you to score runs, and enjoy your life with your wife and kids. Allah has made life beautiful for you. I keep saying that,”
Afridi added.
“I want to score runs, but at least don’t deny me the platforms where I can score. I will ask you when sides in PSL want to pick me, who comes in and says no? You tell me, where do I score runs? At my home?”
Shehzad replied.
Remarkably, Ahmed Shehzad recently played for Central Punjab in the Pakistan Cup, scoring 456 runs in 11 games at an average of 45.6.