Former all-rounder star for Pakistan Mohammad Hafeez was chastised for calling Indian captain Rohit Sharma "weak, confused, and terrified" during the Asia Cup. According to Hafeez, Sharma "cannot go on for too long" as the team's captain.
The statement was made in a video during Hafeez's interview with an expert panel on PTV Sports.
"You see Rohit Sharma's expression after winning the match This expression happened after India won by 40 runs," Hafeez said in the interview. "I had talked about Rohit Sharma's body language, when he came out to toss, he looked weak, he seemed afraid and confused."
Hafeez said that captaincy is one of the reasons Sharma underperformed, particularly because of the pressure he faced.
“I am not being able to see Rohit Sharma, whom I have observed during matches playing incredible innings," he continued.
"I think captaincy is putting a lot of pressure on Rohit. He is facing a lot of difficulties," Hafeez concluded.
The 41-year-old then claimed that Sharma has yet to regain his previous form.
“If you see his form, it is declining; if you take a look at his recent IPL stint, it was bad, and after that when he came to international cricket, his form hasn’t come back yet.”
Nonetheless, in Hafeez's opinion, Sharma demonstrated that he could perform well for India.
“He can still perform good for India, but since he became captain, his [performance] has gradually gone down.”
Hafeez's "offensive" remark
Interestingly, Hafeez continued to make contentious remarks following his heated comments about Sharma.
He has angered Indian supporters by referring to the country as "the most laadla (pampered). He recently said that India values people more for how much money they bring in rather than their playing ability.
"I don't know a lot, but I definitely know that in our society, whoever is the earner is loved by everyone, is the most laadla (pampered), gets the most kisses from everyone," Hafeez said on his official Twitter account.
He went on to say that India is a "revenue-making country" and that even during "bilateral series across the world, where they get sponsorship, they get a jackpot." For Hafeez, there is no "denying" those aforementioned things.
Indian fans react
Given that the match between India and Pakistan is scheduled for today, September 4, Hafeez is heightening the tension of the game, especially after comments on Twitter from primarily Indian supporters lambasted him.
A Twitter account @rune lord reacted on @timesnowsports news about the "laadlas" statement, adding, "Pak not laadlas as they are terr0rists, not because they played bad."
Another user who goes by the username @veervadra said that Hafeez was actually kicked off of the Pakistan team for poor performance.
“Hafeez is such a bitter man, he was thrown out of Pakistan team for poor performance. Now he ll be thrown out of news channels as well !! @mhafeez22," the tweet reads.
