Shaheen Afridi admits being villain in ugly fight with Matthew Breetzke
Published - 14 Feb 2025, 03:59 PM | Updated - 14 Feb 2025, 11:35 PM
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Pakistan National Cricket Team pace sensation Shaheen Afridi has finally broken the silence on his heated yet bizarre exchange with the South Africa National Cricket Team batter Matthew Breetzke during the Tri-Nation ODI series match on February 12 in Karachi.
The controversial incident unfolded in the 28th over of South Africa’s innings when Shaheen Afridi had intentionally blocked Matthew Breetzke as the batter attempted a quick single. This caused some physical contact, which led to a heated exchange between the two cricketers.
Shaheen Afridi opens up about controversial exchange with Matthew Breetzke
Now, Shaheen admitted that he did all the drama to unsettle Breetzke and put pressure on him in order to take his wicket in the match. However, the Pakistan pacer has emphasized that whatever had happened remained on the field, and there were no hard feelings between them.
Ahead of the ongoing Tri-Nation ODI series final between Pakistan and New Zealand, Shaheen Afridi revealed that Matthew Breetzke didn’t respond to his teasing for the first time. However, the star pacer said that they put behind the incident by exchanging handshakes and became good friends after the match.
Shaheen Afridi was quoted as saying by Geo News, “For the first time, Matthew didn't say anything. I kept teasing him to get a wicket. Whatever happened on the field stayed there. Matthew and I met, shook hands, and became good friends.”
Notably, following the incident, the Pakistani pacer was fined 25% of his match fee. Shaheen was found to have breached Article 2.12 of the ICC Code of Conduct, which refers to "inappropriate physical contact with a player, support personnel, umpire, match referee, or anyone else (including spectators) during an international match."
Shaheen Afridi admits Pakistan's struggles in death overs
Meanwhile, Shaheen talked about Pakistan's struggles with the ball in the death overs that have come to light again in the ongoing Tri-nation ODI series. In the first match against New Zealand, Glenn Phillips attacked aggressively, scoring 71 runs in the last four overs against Shaheen and Naseem Shah.
Similarly, in the second match against South Africa, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, and Khushdil Shah conceded 46 runs in the final four overs, which helped the Proteas side to post a massive total of 352/5. However, the Men in Green managed to beat the South African side by 6 wickets in that game.
And Shaheen admitted, “We admit that we haven't been performing well in the final overs.”
Pakistan face New Zealand in the Tri-nation ODI series
Speaking about the final match, Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan won the toss and opted to bat first against the Black Caps at the National Stadium in Karachi. However, the Men in Green lost their two wickets for 42 runs, with Fakhar Zaman and Saud Shakeel departing for 10 and 8 runs, respectively, by Will O'Rourke and Michael Bracewell in Karachi.
Currently, Babar Azam and Rizwan are batting with the score reading 50/2 after 11 overs against the New Zealand side in the final encounter of the Tri-nation ODI series in Karachi on Friday.
