'Kar de bhai, Koi nai dekh raha', Shahid Afridi says Shoaib Malik pushed him to tamper with pitch after 'cylinder explosion' in 2005

In a recent TV interview, Shahid Afridi admitted to the pitch-tampering offence in 2005 and said that it was his teammate Shoaib Malik who had pushed him to commit the cricketing crime.

Source: Twitter

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi was known for his destructive batting and all-round abilities during his playing days. He burst onto the scene with a 37-ball 100 vs Sri Lanka in 1996. Afridi was known for his bowling skills as well, the leg-spin making him the Man of the Tournament in 2007 T20 World Cup. He has to his name 395 ODI wckets and 98 T20I wickets to his name as well. Afridi, apart from his cricketing skills, was and is also known for his controversies. He once tampered with the ball, sledged Sachin Tendulkar on the pitch and has made controversial remarks on Indian state Kashmir.

Many fans still remember his 2005 pitch tampering episode which eventually led to a ban of 1 Test and 2 ODIs respectively. In a recent TV interview, Afridi admitted to the offence and said that it was his teammate Shoaib Malik who had pushed him to commit the cricketing crime. It was committed during a Test vs England in Faisalabad. 

“It was a good series. That Test was in Faislabad. Believe me, it was a Test and the ball was neither turning, nor it was getting any swing or seam. It was getting quite boring. I was applying my full force and nothing was happening. Then suddenly, a gas cylinder exploded and eveyone got distracted. I told Malik, 'Mera dil chaah raha hai main idhar patch bana du. Ball toh turn ho!' (I want to create a patch on this pitch so badly. I want the ball to turn!),” Afridi said on Samaa TV.

“Shoaib Malik replied, 'Kar de. Koi nai dekh raha' (Do it, no one is watching). So I did that! And then, what happened is history. When I look back at it, you do realise it was a mistake,” Afridi further said while having a chuckle at the incident. 

So far, Malik has made comments on the same.