Afridi clarifies stance after blaming Misbah for 2011 World Cup exit

Pakistan’s legendary former all-rounder Shahid Afridi, through a Tweet on Tuesday, clarified his stance after a recent interview with Arab News in which the former legend appeared to blame former captain Misbahul Haq for the 2011 World Cup exit.

The 40-year-old claimed that he was misquoted in the interview and was blaming the defeat on the failures of the collective batting unit rather than on any individual.

“Unfortunately I have been misquoted in this interview. The 2011 defeat was due to batting failure of the team. The batsmen including myself didn't sustain pressure of the chase. No blame on any individual!” Afridi tweeted.

Unfortunately I have been misquoted in this interview. The 2011 defeat was due to batting failure of the team. The batsmen including myself didn't sustain pressure of the chase. No blame on any individual! pic.twitter.com/pgZFrnSWfH

— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) September 29, 2020

The article in question was titled “Misbah played 'slow inning,' Shahid Afridi says of 2011 world cup defeat against India” and was based on a recent interview with the flamboyant all-rounder.

“Many people speak about Misbah that he played a slow inning,” Afridi said in the interview with Arab News. “First, it’s the nature of Misbah, this is his game. He takes enough time [to settle]. He strives to take the game to the end. But this situation required [from him] to get the scoreboard going.”

The article further mentioned that Afridi claimed that “he [Misbah] should have changed the plan to increase the runs a bit. Pressure built as wickets started falling back to back.”