Shahid Afridi criticises CSA for releasing players ahead of the IPL

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has criticized Cricket South Africa (CSA) for allowing their players to leave the ODI series in the middle to go ahead and take part in the Indian Premier League. Five of South Africa’s ODI team members were allowed to leave the series against Pakistan to travel to India.

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Among the players who left for India were Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada and David Miller. All the five players were not part of the Proteas line-up which took the field on Wednesday for the final ODI against Pakistan in Centurion. The IPL is scheduled to begin on April 9.

Afridi posted a tweet in which he talked about this matter. He called the decision taken by CSA surprising. He wrote on Twitter, “Surprising to see @OfficialCSA allowing players to travel for IPL in the middle of a series. It is sad to see T20 leagues influencing international cricket. Some rethinking needs to be done!!”

Afridi also congratulated the Pakistan team for winning the ODI series against South Africa. A depleted Proteas side got on the field for the third ODI and eventually went on to lose the match by 28 runs. Batting first, they posted a total of 320 for 7, which turned out to be a bit too much for the hosts.

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Fakhar Zaman got his second successive century, while captain Babar Azam scored a fantastic 94 off 82. Opener Imam-ul-Haq also contributed with a valiant fifty. During the run chase, South Africa failed to put the foot on the accelerator at the right time. Fifties from Janneman Malan, Kyle Verreynne and Andile Phehlukwayo were not enough to propel their side to a series win.

Proteas were bowled out for 292 as Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Nawaz picked up three wickets each to tighten the screws. This was the first series win for Pakistan in South Africa since Misbah-ul-Haq’s team had won a series in the 2012-13 season.