‘Ban’ Asif Ali From Asia Cup: Ex-Afghanistan Captain on Pakistan Cricketer’s Spat With Fareed Ahmed Malik

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Asif Ali almost got into a fight with Fareed Ahmed Malik.© AFP

The Afghanistan-Pakistan Super 4 match at the Asian Cup on Wednesday was a hard-fought one, with the latter prevailing in the final over of a 130-run chase. Thanks to the win, Pakistan mounted a final showdown with Sri Lanka on Sunday. However, the match between Babar Azam-led Pakistan and Mohammad Nabi-led Afghanistan also witnessed an unwanted incident between Asif Ali and Fareed Ahmed Malik. It happened in the 19th after Pakistani batter Ali was fired by Malik.

After Malik Ali fired, he confronted the batter and performed a fist pump to celebrate the wicket. Asif did not like Fareed’s actions, and even he raised his club, but then began to run away. Fareed also made a shoulder shake to Asif as the batter walked back. Fortunately, other Afghan players intervened and separated the two players.

Now former Afghan captain Gulbadin Naib has called for a ‘ban’ on Ali for his actions. “This is stupidity at an extreme level from Asif Ali and should be banned from the rest of the tournament. Every bowler has the right to celebrate, but being physical is not acceptable at all,” Naib tweeted.

Pakistan’s win meant that India and Afghanistan are out of the equation for Sunday’s final as they are winless from two games. With four points each, Pakistan and Sri Lanka qualified for the title fight.

Invited to bat, Afghanistan put down 129 for six with Ibrahim Zadran as the top scorer with a 37-ball 35. Pakistan chased the goal with four balls left, reaching 131 for 9 in 19.2 overs.

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Shadab Khan scored the highest score for Pakistan with 36, while Iftikhar Ahmed made 30. For Afghanistan, Fareed Ahmad and Fazalhaq Farooqi each took three wickets, while Rashid Khan took two.

With PTI inputs

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