Asia Cup 2022: Afghanistan vs Pakistan match marred by crowd trouble; players fined for on-field clash — Watch Video

Asia Cup 2022: Wednesday’s Asia Cup Super 4 match between Afghanistan and Pakistan saw ugly scenes in Sharjah, where both the Pak and Afghan players on the field, as well as the crowd in the stands supporting the two teams confronted and clashed with each other. As a result, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has reprimanded the cricketers, and UAE officials have warned of action against brawling fans.

IANS reported on Friday that ICC has taken strong objection to the heated exchange between players from Pakistan and Afghanistan and found the incident to be in breach of ICC rules. As per the report, ICC stated that Pakistani cricketer Asif Ali and Afghan cricketer Fareed Ahmad have been punished by the world cricket governing body for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct.

Following the breach during the Asia Cup match between Pakistan and Afghanistan on September 7, ICC has penalised Pakistan’s Asif Ali and Afghanistan’s Fareed Ahmad and levied a fine of 25% of match fees on both the players. As per the ICC incident report, this was for the altercation that occurred after the fifth delivery of the 19th over during the match.

Former Pakistani fast bowler and outspoken cricket expert, Shoaib Akhtar, took to Twitter to pull up Afghan cricketers over the clashes. He shared a video of the incident and wrote that 'arrogance led to the downfall of the Afghan team'.

Afghan players put right back into their place by 19 year old kid Naseem Shah. Unforgettable match against people we have loved & supported always.
Lekin bat tamizi aur arrogance nay un no foran neecha dikhaya.

Full video: https://t.co/u3LsS2GfrD pic.twitter.com/X6Obdq35bj

— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) September 7, 2022

The match had also witnessed ugly scenes between the Afghan and Pak fans present in the stadium. As per eyewitness reports, fans present inside the stadium had hurled plastic chairs and other items on each other. Some onlookers also reported brawling between supporters in the parking lots outside the Sharjah stadium. 

Shoaib Akhtar shared a video of the brawl on Twitter, and wrote: “This is what Afghan fans are doing. This is what they've done in the past multiple times. This is a game and its supposed to be played and taken in the right spirit. @ShafiqStanikzai your crowd & your players both need to learn a few things if you guys want to grow in the sport.” 

This is what Afghan fans are doing.
This is what they've done in the past multiple times.This is a game and its supposed to be played and taken in the right spirit.@ShafiqStanikzai your crowd & your players both need to learn a few things if you guys want to grow in the sport. pic.twitter.com/rg57D0c7t8

— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) September 7, 2022