Dubai: A video posted on Twitter by a disappointed Pakistan fan - showing veteran allrounder Shoaib Malek and his wife and tennis diva Sania Mirza at a shisha bar along with other team members the night before the game against India - has gone viral.
The video shows a few other Pakistan cricketers like Wahab Riaz and Imam-ul Haq also at the table. Two Pakistan fans claimed they saw Malek smoking shisha at 2 am at the lounge on Winslow Road in Manchester, while others were having junk food, including “burgers and pizzas”. Another fan posted a photo of Riaz digging into desserts.
Mohammad Shafiq, a Pakistan fan, tweeted from his handle @mshafiquk: “Shoaib Malik of the #pakistancricketteam at midnight, hours before the most crucial match of the #CricketWorldCup2019 In Curry Mile In a Shisha cafe. Add the burgers and deserts, no wonder they performed dismally at Old Trafford. They should be ashamed. Every single one of them.
Reacting to the outpouring of criticism on social media following India winning the World Cup game by 89 runs on Duckworth-Lewis method, Sania Mirza tweeted: “That’s the video you shot without asking us,disrespecting our privacy even though we had a child with us & got told off for doing so u came up with this crap? FYI ‘outing’ was dinner & yes ppl are allowed to eat if they lose a match! Bunch of fools! Try better content nxt time.” @MirzaSania
Another fan took to YouTube and posted a video where he kept harping on the lack of intent from the Green Brigade, apart from pacer Mohammad Amir. He also spoke about how Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed was captured ‘yawning’ during the match - adding fuel to the fire as former greats like Shoaib Akhtar found his captaincy ‘brainless.’
