How Did Pak-Afghan Cricket Match Get Rough? The Other Side of Sharjah Stadium Ruckus | Exclusive

Following a spectacular cricket match in Sharjah, in which Afghanistan were fighting hard to stay in the Asia Cup tournament only for Pakistan?s last-wicket pair to dramatically clinch their own spot in the finals, crowd trouble erupted in the stands.

The Pakistani state media showed how the Afghani crowd violently broke and threw chairs and bottles, vandalising the stadium after their defeat.

Sources, however, claim this was only one side of the story, which the Pakistani media ?chose to show?.

According to sources, a Pakistani group in the stadium hurled abuses and slurs at Afghani fans, which irked the latter, resulting in the ruckus.

#NAMAKHARAM: SOCIAL MEDIA TO STREETS

The clashes soon spread from the stadium to the social media, with insulting trends such as #NamakHaram against Afghanistan. The Pakistan media started a nationwide campaign against the Afghans.

“We (Pakistan) gave them (Afghans) space, food, jobs and shelter and they are still beating us," some Pakistanis commented on social media, with the Afghan nation being abused on the streets of Islamabad, Peshawar and Karachi.

Some incidents of violence were also witnessed during and after the match. After the match, a group of Pakistanis teased the Afghanis in Sharjah and both the groups were caught in a clash. Even in Pakistan, according to some media reports, citizens beat up Afghanis while watching the match.

In Rawalpindi city, an Afghani hotel owner was beaten by a group during the match. Police reached the spot to control the situation, but did not book any person.

THE REACTIONS

On the field, Pakistan’s Asif Ali lost his cool and angrily waved his bat at Afghanistan bowler Fareed Ahmad in the 19th over. Fareed had struck twice in the over including the key wicket of big-hitting Asif. The batsman, who hit two sixes in a brisk 16 off eight balls, was caught at short fine-leg in an attempt to hook a bouncer and became embroiled in a row with Fareed as he made his way off the field.

An incensed Asif gestured in the direction of Fareed with his bat before players intervened along with the umpire to defuse the tension.

Pakistan vice-captain Shadab Khan, who top-scored with 36, played down the incident, saying it happened “in the heat of the moment? and was best left on the field.

Rameez Raja, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, issued a statement: “We are going to express our anguish and frustration to the International Cricket Council (ICC). We owe it to our fans, anything could have happened? Our team could have been in danger? So whatever the protocol is, we will follow that and lodge our protest.?

Raja is also part of the ICC?s working committee tasked with reviewing the state of cricket and how it is run in Afghanistan, following the Taliban takeover of the country last year.

Meanwhile, former Afghanistan Cricket Board CEO Shafiq Stanikzai called for a ban on Pakistan’s Asif Ali for his aggression. ?This is stupidity at extreme level by Asif Ali and should be banned from the rest of the tournament, any bowler has the right to celebrate but being physical is not acceptable at all,? Stanikzai tweeted.

Pakistan’s Member of National Assembly (MNA) Mohsin Dawar also raised his voice against a nationwide planned campaign against Afghanistan. ?Using a cricket match as an excuse to hurl racist abuse against Afghans is the peak of shamelessness. Pakistan?s decades-old strategic depth policy and interventionist misadventures in Afghanistan are the reasons why Afghans have a problem with Pakistan?, said lawmaker Mohsin Dawer.

TALIBAN UPSET

The Taliban government of Afghanistan is upset with the Pakistanis. “It was fuelled by Pakistani media later. Pakistan insulted us as a country and we can’t rule out the involvement from government level. We want Pakistan to give a public apology for this," said a source in the Taliban government.

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