War Of Words Between Babar Azam And Shaheen Afridi After Pakistan's Asia Cup 2023 Exit: Report

The Babar Azam-led Pakistan cricket team, despite a good start to the Asia Cup 2023, could not keep up the momentum and were knocked out of the Super 4 stage. The Pakistan team were pegged back by injuries of Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah too. Though they fought till the end, Pakistan could not go over the line as victors in a well-contested match against Sri Lanka, and were shown the door. The loss to Sri Lanka would rankle the team for a long time as it was one of the biggest tournament ahead of the Cricket World Cup in India.

To make matters worse, according to a report of Pakistan media outlet Bol News, Pakistan captain Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi were engaged in a war of words after the defeat to Sri Lanka. According to the report, after the loss, Babar questioned the role of the senior players in the Asia Cup 2023 campaign. However, Shaheen interrupted him and said he should not generalise and not criticises those who did well. Babar then replied that he is well aware about who is doing well and who's not. The report added that Babar, went to the press conference after the loss, and on his way to the hotel did not talk to anybody.

Kusal Mendis' 91 and an unbeaten 49 by Charith Asalanka helped Sri Lanka edge out Pakistan by two wickets in a last-ball thriller of the Asia Cup to set up a final clash with India. Chasing a DLS revised target of 252 in the 42-overs-a-side contest in Colombo, Sri Lanka needed eight from the final over and achieved the target with Asalanka's winning hit on the last ball. A raucous home crowd rejoiced but the result broke the heart of millions of fans awaiting an India-Pakistan final in the 50-over tournament, a prelude to the upcoming ODI World Cup.

The loss also hurt the Pakistan team