Shaheen Shah Afridi breaks silence on social media backlash

Prior to his departure for Australia, Pakistan cricket’s budding star Shaheen Shah Afridi said that he pays no attention to “negative news” regarding him and insisted that his focus is on cricket.

“Off the field, the negative news keeps on coming. I try not to pay any attention to it,” Afridi told Geo News in an open media session in Lahore.

He was responding to a question that asked to what extent a player can be affected when facing a social media storm.

“Because there is competition [for places] in fast bowling, I tend to keep my focus on performance,” he added.

Afridi, who is bound to leave for Australia shortly where he will link up with the rest of the Pakistan squad, also quashed any concerns regarding his fitness.

“I am now completely fit. I have also played a first-class match that improved my match fitness. Right now I have no fitness issues. To regain fitness I bowled 113 overs,” he said.

It is pertinent to mention here that Afridi — after a scintillating debut World Cup campaign this year — had contracted dengue virus before suffering a hamstring injury. He is yet to play for Pakistan so far this season.