It was a close contest between Afghanistan and Pakistan on Wednesday night in Asia Cup 2022 Super 4 stage, with the Babar Azam-led side registering a one-wicket victory. The men in green were reduced to 118/9 in 18.5 overs in the chase; however, Naseem Shah smashed two sixes off the first two balls of the final over against Fazalhaq Farooqi to not only seal an incredible win for Pakistan, but also book their place in the final of the continental tournament.
With emotions running high towards the closing stages of the game, an ugly incident took place in the penultimate over with Afghanistan’s Fareed Ahmed clashing against Pakistan batter Asif Ali after dismissing him on the fifth ball. Fareed seemingly made a comment towards Asif which angered the Pakistan batter, and the latter even raised his bat in retaliation before both were pulled apart by other Afghanistan players and the umpires.
After Pakistan’s dramatic victory, however, the scenes turned nastier in the stands as the Afghanistan and Pakistan fans clashed against each other, and a video that has since gone viral on social media showed a number of Afghans vandalising the stadium property in Sharjah. In fact, some were also seen throwing seats at Pakistan fans.
Following the incident, the chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Ramiz Raja made a strong statement during his press conference on Thursday. Ramiz stated that the PCB will write a letter lodging a protest over the incident, and hopes for a strong action to be taken against the perpetrators.
“You don’t identify hooliganism with cricket. You don’t want such things happening in cricket. We will draft a letter to ICC, we will raise our voice against this. We will do whatever we can. Because the visuals were really bad and this isn’t the first time it has happened,” Ramiz said during the presser.
“Win or loss is a part of the game. It was a gruelling contest, it was a great match. But you need to keep your emotions in check because if you can’t do that, you can’t grow as a cricket-playing nation. So, we will definitely write a letter (to ICC), and we will show our concern.”
Ramiz further said that Pakistan’s cricket team could have been in danger as well. “They are our fans. Anything could have happened. Our cricket team could have been in danger. We will lodge our protest while following all protocols,” said Ramiz.
