Recently, when Pakistan defeated Australia by 6 wickets to win the Twenty20 International tri-series, Pakistani opener Fakhar Zaman stole a lot of limelight as he played a breathtaking knock of 91 in the final. Apart from Zaman’s knock, the Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell’s act of refusing to shake hands with Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed after the match, grabbed a lot of eyeballs. The photographers were quick to capture the action and soon after that, the speculations about the rift between the two started.
Maxwell was badly trolled by twitterati without even bothering to know the actual reason behind the refusal. However, after facing immense heat on various social media platforms, Glenn came out with his side of the story.
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Here is the video of the incident:
For those who missed it. This is what happened. pic.twitter.com/nORNAMLTPR
— Taimoor Zaman (@taimoorze) July 8, 2018
Glenn Maxwell took to Twitter and congratulated the Pakistan team on their victory and also revealed the reason of him not shaking hands with the Pakistan skipper. His post read: “Congrats to Pakistan on their win yesterday, Fakhar Zaman and Shoaib Malik were unstoppable! Sad note to end our tour of Zimbabwe, but still plenty of positives to take out of it. In regards to the incident shown post-match, it appears unsportsmanlike, and certainly not the way I play the game. It was a genuine oversight on my behalf and I’m currently looking for Sarfraz, in the hotel to shake his hand and congratulate him and his team for their series win. #wellplayed”.
— Glenn Maxwell (@Gmaxi_32) July 9, 2018
However, despite those kind words, the incident did not go down well with former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar who has asked for an apology from the Australian cricketer. Akhtar’s tweet read,”Not shaking hands with Pak captain after winning the series its not a great example set by Glen Maxwell plus kids are watching his behaviour & looking up to him. Now-he should apologise to Pak team & Sarfraz.”
Not shaking hands with Pak captain after winning the series its not a great example set by Glen Maxwell plus kids are watching his behaviour & looking up to him. Now-he should apologise to Pak team & Sarfraz ..
— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) July 9, 2018
By winning the match, Pakistan maintained their numero uno position in the ICC T20I Rankings. Zaman rose to the number 2 spot in the latest ICC T20I Rankings, from 46 because of his consistent performances in the series. He is just behind Australian captain Aaron Finch who climbed three spots to the number one position in the rankings. Not only that, Finch also became the first cricketer to breach the 900-point-mark in the ICC T20I Rankings.
