LPL 2020: Mohammad Amir Reveals What Shahid Afridi Told Naveen-Ul-Haq During Their Verbal War

The 2020 edition of Lanka Premier League (LPL) taking place in Hambantota witnessed a heated exchange between Mohammad Amir and Naveen-Ul-Haq. It was during the sixth match of the tournament between Kandy Tuskers and Galle Gladiators when tempers from Amir and Naveen arose high and the Gladiators’ captain Shahid Afridi had to intervene. Meanwhile, Mohammad Amir has revealed what Afridi told Ul-Haq.

At the time of the customary handshakes between the two sides, the Gladiators’ skipper Shahid Afridi decided to teach Afghanistan’s Naveen-Ul-Haq a lesson on how to behave with his seniors on the 22-yard pitch. The former Pakistan captain took to his official Twitter handle and wrote “My advise to the young player was simple, play the game and don’t indulge in abusive talk. I have friends in Afghanistan team and we have very cordial relations. Respect for teammates and opponents is the basic spirit of the game,”

Mohammad Amir supported Naveen-Ul-Haq by saying that he will learn with time and claimed he also had the habit of getting himself in trouble with every other batsman during his early days. The 28-year old revealed that he refuses to indulge in sledging incidents with batsmen and preserve the aggression after taking a wicket as it wastes the energy which instead they could use to get the batsmen out.

“He [Naveen-ul-Haq] is a youngster and will learn soon as this happens when you are new to cricket; Even when I started off, I had this habit of getting into trouble with every other batsman. This is cricket and things happen in the heat of the moment – its nothing personal to be honest. If you look at me nowadays, I am very friendly with everyone; I don’t sledge batsmen; One should focus on their bowling and all aggression should be left for the time when you take a wicket; Expressing aggression without a reason is of no use as a bowler, it simply wastes your energy which is best used in getting the batsman out. That’s what I said, it would have been better if he had been putting his energy to get me out,” the 28-year old told PakPassion.net.

This is cricket and you get hit for 4s and 6s but you can also get wickets: Mohammad Amir

The left-arm pacer revealed that Shahid Afridi tried to make Naveen-Ul-Haq understand that such ethics are not acceptable on the field and one should not behave like it with the senior players. Furthermore, in a game, a player does suffer an equal share of ups and downs.

“At the end of the innings, I was a little riled up also and as you know the heart rate is already. Shahid Bhai was trying to make him understand that these aren’t the type of ethics we should have, that he should not behave like that with his seniors, that he should be a gentleman; This is cricket and you get hit for 4s and 6s but you can also get wickets,” Mohammad Amir added.

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