Pakistan cricket team captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has said that the anger of the Pakistan fans is valid after they lost game against India and they are same fans who give them lot of love and respect when they win matches.
Talking to ICC Digital, he said, “One thing is important to know that our fans really appreciate and love us. And it is because of them we get the courage especially when we play overseas, at places like England. So the support we get here is immense. Unfortunately last week that went by, after our loss against India, it has been very tough for us. As a team we learnt lot from this and it can be seen in the response our team gave against Southafrica and after that way the fans supported us it has been quite amazing”.
About the fan video that went viral in which fan was seen hurling abuse at Sarfaraz said, “Obviously this does hurt us. This incident happened two days before as the video was circulated one day before match.
This was playing on my mind but I didn’t pay much heed as I thought he won’t do this as his family was also with him.I spoke to his family. One of his family members apologized on his behalf. But when the video became viral my body language was quite de-motivating. it was not because of me but it was because of my son Abdullah who was with me at that time. That is why it hut even more”.
About not reacting personally at that moment he said, “ The thing is that if I would have reacted at that time. I was very angry at that moment. But if I had gotten into argument people would not have seen the truth and I would have been seen in negative light instead. That is why I felt not reacting to the incident was best response and left it to God. Everything happens due to God’s will. The video went viral and I got lot of support”.
About reaction of family and wife, “When I went back to the hotel I saw my wife crying after seeing the video. I tried to explain her that this is one video and that we had people walk to us and tell us things on our face. There is nothing serious and we must be strong. All this is part of life. When we don’t perform well we have to go through this”.
“Not just family whoever has seen the video has reacted against the video. I would like to thank everyone who tweeted and sent supported messages and love on social media. We are greatfull to everyone. Whatever we are today is because of our fans. If our fans support us we will perform better and be motivated. And we also know that when we win they give us lot of respect and when lose their anger is valid because they have expectations from us,” he said.
“After losing against India that one week that passed by. However it was our fans still came to Lords and supported the Pakistan team. They came to hotel where we were staying and even met us outside. And all of them told us that we should concentrate on our game and give our best and leave everything else to God. Our fans are very nice I also saw poster at Lords that said we are sorry,” he added.
