Shoaib Akhtar: “It’s unfortunate that the news (about hitting Asif with the bat) was leaked. Afridi confessed he didn’t say it. Maybe if I was there, we could have won the World Cup. Maybe. But Allah didn’t want this to happen”
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Ex-Pakistan pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar admitted that it was “unfortunate that the news” about him hitting fellow seamer Mohammad Asif with a bat was leaked.
However, he noted that former all-rounder Shahid Afridi “confessed he didn’t say it”.
The incident, which occurred in 2007, is believed to have stemmed from an argument between Akhtar and Afridi.
Akhtar claimed Afridi insulted his family, which led to a confrontation and a tussle.
Writing about the incident in his autobiography, Controversially Yours, Akhtar said that when Afridi was making fun of him, Asif, who was in the bathroom, laughed.
In a fit of rage, Akhtar pulled Asif out of the bathroom while Afridi continued to poke fun.
“Afridi was aggravating the situation and I swung the bat at both of them. Afridi ducked, but Asif couldn’t get out of the way, the bat struck him on his thighs and he collapsed. I had lost it. I had never behaved like this, especially in the dressing room,” Akhtar wrote.
Asif suffered a bruised thigh as a result of the incident.
Akhtar was punished for his actions as he was sent home prior to the start of the 2007 World T20 in South Africa.
“It’s unfortunate that the news (about hitting Asif with the bat) was leaked. Afridi confessed he didn’t say it. Maybe if I was there, we could have won the World Cup. Maybe. But Allah didn’t want this to happen,” Akhtar was quoted as saying by PakPassion.
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