Shahid Afridi's Sharp Retort To Wasim Akram's "Drop 5-6 Players" Suggestion After Champions Trophy Exit

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has taken a swipe at legendary pacer Wasim Akram after the latter had suggested to drop a host of stars from the national team. Akram's remarks came after Pakistan's early exit from the Champions Trophy, following the defeats to New Zealand and India, respectively, in Group A. Pakistan failed to win a single game as their final group match against Bangladesh was washed out due to rain in Rawalpindi on Thursday. 

Akram, while speaking on Ten Sports, lashed out at Mohammad Rizwan and co, urging the selectors to take some brave calls for the betterment of the team. Akram suggested that Pakistan should already start planning for the next big event, the 2026 T20 World Cup.

"Enough is enough. We are losing in white-ball with these players from some couple of years. The time is to take a bold step. What is the bold step? As Waqar Younis was saying, bring young players, fearless cricketers, bring them in white ball cricket. Even if you have to make 5-6 big changes, do that, lose for the next six months, support those players. Start making the 2026 T20 World Cup team from now," Akram had said on Pakistan's TV show, Dressing Room.

Now, Afridi, who made his debut under Akram's captaincy, has now reacted to his former teammate's remarks. Afridi suggested that while it's easy to get carried away after a few bad results, he questioned Akram whether Pakistan have players to replace the big stars.

"I was listening to Wasim bhai that day. Yes, we all got carried away by emotions (after loss to India). He said that 6-7 (5-6) players need to be dropped from the side. Wasim bhai, I just have one question for you. Do you 6-7 players on the bench who can replace them? Do you have the players of those standards in domestic cricket? Have we groomed them in the academies?," Afridi said during a discussion on Samaa TV.

Afridi highlighted that dropping big names could also lead to criticism if the results don't go their way.

"We may drop the players, but who will we bring? Even if we do that, people will start crying about it again. They (PCB) will say that we are preparing for the World Cup. And once it sends, the surgery will begin again," he added.

Pakistan's failure to win a game marked the first time when the hosts of the Champions Trophy endured a winless run in the tournament since its rebrand in 2002.

Topics mentioned in this article

Pakistan Cricket Team Wasim Akram Shahid Afridi Babar Azam Mohammad Rizwan Shaheen Afridi Cricket