Ahead of the upcoming series between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Sharjah, PCB Management Committee Chairman Najam Sethi has issued a warning to the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) to ensure that their players’ behavior remains in check.
Sethi highlighted an incident that occurred during the Asia Cup last year when Asif Ali was involved in a heated altercation with Afghan fast bowler Fareed Ahmad Malik. To avoid any such incidents, Sethi had a chat with Afghanistan officials in Dubai about crowd control and their players’ behavior.
“We have experience about winning and losing, so we can control our emotions, but they are new to international cricket, so they need to keep their players in check,” Sethi said, adding that winning and losing is part of the game.
Sethi also emphasized that the Afghan board needs to ensure that their fans behave properly, especially after the incident where Afghan fans hit Pakistan fans with chairs following a close encounter between the two teams.
To prevent any such incidents from occurring, the UAE authorities have made a new plan to ensure that Pakistan and Afghanistan fans do not sit together. In addition, strict security measures will be implemented in Sharjah to ensure that rowdy behavior is dealt with swiftly.
“We have been given two assurances: strict security measures will be implemented to prevent any rowdy behavior, and fans of both teams will not be sitting together,” Sethi said.
