At a time when there is plenty of optimism around the Pakistan Test side after Shan Masood took over the captaincy, a viral video of a heated argument between two players has emerged from a training session in Canberra ahead of their all-important Test series in Australia. Senior wicketkeeper and former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed was seen arguing with Saud Shakeel.
As seen in the viral video, Sarfaraz Ahmed, who was batting in the nets with his kit on, can be seen exchanging words with Saud Shakeel, who was waiting for his turn. The chat escalated into a heated argument with both players not looking to hold back. It is not exactly known why the two players had a go at each other, but it appeared that the two players disagreed with taking turns at the nets.
“For how long will I continue to be of use to you?” Shakeel asked Sarfaraz, as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
“You won’t be of any use to me. To begin with, I never instructed you to do anything. I never requested you to make a swap. I swapped with the person I intended to,” the senior wicketkeeper-batter said.
Both Sarfaraz and Saud are expected to be key parts of Paksitan’s stern test in the Australia Test series. Only recently, the two players were involved in an incident that caught the attention of fans during Pakistan’s intra-squad match before their departure to Australia.
Sarfaraz Ahmed tried to time out Saud Shakeel, noticing that the young batter was taking an excessive amount of time to walk out to bat. He made a light-hearted appeal to the umpire. Shakeel, who had been casually strolling towards the pitch, was spurred into a hasty sprint towards the crease without even donning his gloves. As Shakeel reached the crease, the umpire checked his watch and, much to the relief of Shakeel and the amusement of their teammates, declared him not out. This led to jubilant scenes among the Pakistani players, who cheered and clapped for Shakeel.
Pakistan have been training at the Manuka Oval in Canberra ahead of their 4-day tour game against Australian Prime Ministers XI, starting December 6.
On Tuesday, Captain Shan Masood, speaking to the press, highlighted the role of senior batters Babar Azam and Sarfaraz Ahmed as they look to take on the challenge of facing the World Test Champions.
