There is chaos in Pakistan cricket amid T20 World Cup 2026. The war of words continues between the players and former players participating in the T20 World Cup. Actually, Shadab Khan had targeted former players including Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Yusuf. He had said that former players could not do what he has done. Shadab had said that his team has defeated India in the World Cup, whereas former players could never do so. Now Shahid Afridi has retaliated on this statement.
What is the whole matter?
After the defeat by India in the T20 World Cup 2026, a period of turmoil continues in Pakistan cricket. Team’s all-rounder Shadab Khan came under attack from former players. Former players including Afridi and Yusuf had demanded the team to drop Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Shadab. Afridi and Yusuf had raised questions on their place in the playing-11. In response, Shadab had said that at least he has been a part of the team that defeated India in an ICC tournament, which the previous generation could not do. This statement has now become a bone of controversy.
Afridi-Yusuf’s reaction came first
After Pakistan’s defeat against India on February 15 in Colombo, former captain Shahid Afridi had demanded the team management to drop senior players like Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Shadab Khan due to poor performance.
On the other hand, Mohammad Yusuf also made a similar comment and said that the time of Babar, Shaheen and Shadab is over and the team management should try the bench strength and give a chance to the young players in the playing eleven.
Then Shadab took a dig at Afridi-Yusuf
In the match played in Colombo, Pakistan defeated Namibia by 102 runs. In this match, Shadab scored 36 runs in 22 balls and performed brilliantly by taking three wickets, but the statement given after the match created controversy.
Responding to the criticism in the press conference, Shadab said, ‘Former cricketers have their own opinions. They were legends, but even they couldn’t achieve what we did. We have defeated India in the World Cup. Shadab was talking about defeating India in the 2021 T20 World Cup. This is the only World Cup match in which India has lost to Pakistan. Apart from this, Pakistan has always maintained a close relationship with India. In the ODI World Cup, Pakistan has lost to India eight times, while in the T20 World Cup, Pakistan has lost to India eight times and won once.
