 "Shahid Afridi made a dirty comment after Pakistan’s defeat, even the umpire was not spared – News-Patiala Punjabi")
New Delhi: In the Asia Cup 2025, Pakistan faced another big defeat against India. Former Pakistani cricketers are disappointed with this second successive one-sided defeat. Former all-rounder Shahid Afridi has also joined the group, accusing the umpires of bias. He particularly objected to the decision to give out to Fakhar Zaman. Sanju Samson caught him off the bowling of Hardik Pandya, but was given out by the third umpire.
Afridi, while speaking on Sama TV on Pakistan’s defeat, slammed the umpires. He said that all umpires give decisions against other teams to further their career in India’s popular Indian Premier League. “They have to do umpiring in the IPL as well,” Afridi said.
Another former Pakistani cricketer, Mohammad Yousuf, agreed with Afridi. “They didn’t look at the replay with any different anger. Fakhar had hit three fours and was facing Bumrah with ease in the first over. His wicket was crucial for India,” he said.
Umpires can make mistakes
Pakistan captain Salman said that he thought the ball hit the ground before going into the wicketkeeper’s gloves. Salman said in the post-match press conference, “Umpires can make mistakes. But I think the ball bounced in front of the wicketkeeper. I could be wrong. The way (Fakhar) was batting, if he had batted in the power play, we might have scored 190.”
Pakistan scored 171 for 5 thanks to a half-century from opener Sahibzada Farhan (58 off 45 balls). In reply, Abhishek Sharma scored 74 off 39 balls, while Shubman Gill scored 47 off 28 balls. India chased down the target in 18.5 overs and won by six wickets.