Mohammed Shami took a dig at Shoaib Akhtar following Pakistan’s defeat against England in the final of the 2022 T20 World Cup, writing that the heartbreak caused due to the defeat was down to ‘karma’.

After the match, Shoaib tweeted a heartbroken emoji to express his disappointment. In response, India pacer Shami wrote, “Sorry brother. It’s called karma”, followed by three heartbreak emojis.

Shami’s reference is not clear, but there has been chatter among players of both countries in the lead-up to the final. Shoaib had even questioned Shami’s place in the India side and his sudden call-up. Shami had not played a single T20I since the T20 World Cup last year and had apparently been informed by the selectors that he was no longer in India’s T20I plans. However, when Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the 2022 edition, the selectors recalled Shami.

Shami picked up six wickets in India’s run to the semi-final, but went wicketless against England, who chased down 169 without losing a wicket. In his analysis video after the semi-final, Shoaib had said: “India has to look at their captaincy and the management has to take the blame. The bowling had a number of confusing selections like picking up Shami suddenly – he’s a good fast bowler. They didn’t have any other players. I couldn’t understand their final XI selection.”

Looking ahead to the final, Akhtar commented that England would find it more challenging facing Pakistan bowlers who, unlike their Indian counterparts: “The difference is that England is in a comprehensive position, their confidence will be skyrocketing. England know Pakistan bowlers are not like India. They will have to work hard to win, they won’t get a walkover.”

Shoaib took a jibe at Shami after the latter’s comments, posting an image with Harsha Bhogle’s praise on Pakistan’s bowling, along with the caption. “And this is what you call [a] sensible tweet.”

https://twitter.com/shoaib100mph/status/1591787400019181577?s=20&t=7M8UR_VkXTTuIyMRl49dYA

Wasim Akram hit out at Shami as well: “We should stay neutral. Indians are patriotic about their country, and I’m fine with that, we are patriotic about our country. But instead of that, you’re putting oil to the already burning situation … just don’t do it, man.”

Shahid Afridi, too, joined in: “Cricketers are ambassadors and role models and we should always try to finish [the tensions] between the two countries. We are two neighbours, and they have responsibilities towards each other. Things that cause hatred should not be done or written, if we are doing this, then what can we expect from the common person or the uneducated people?

“We should build our relationship, and sport is a medium that helps us build that. We want to continue playing with India, so these unnecessary things shouldn’t be said. If it’s a retired player, then also you shouldn’t write all this, but you should avoid it if you are a current player.”

A few days ago, after Pakistan qualified for the final and India were eliminated, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif tweeted a reference to India’s two 10-wicket defeats in the two T20 World Cup editions.

To that, Irfan Pathan had responded with “This is the difference between us. We are happy with our joys and you are happy looking at others’ sorrows. That is why you should focus on bettering your own country first.”

 

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