"The lies do hurt" - Pakistan star opens up on agony of dealing with rumors and speculation ahead of Champions Trophy 2025

Pakistan pace bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi expressed disappointment over untrue reports and misinterpreted facts being reported about him by journalists ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025. The speedster was in the news on a recurring basis last year for his sacking as skipper, tussle with coaches, and omission from the red-ball side.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) only gave Shaheen Afridi one series as captain before Babar Azam was reinstated again under Moshin Naqvi's regime as chairman. There were intense reports of a potential feud with Babar Azam as well as the cricket board after Afridi had posted several posts on his social media following his removal as captain.

Journalists also reported Shaheen Afridi's friction with the coaching staff, particularly Mohammed Yousuf, during the white-ball tour of England ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup. He was said to be let off with a warning by the management, with another set of reports claiming that he had to apologize to the entire team.

2024 also saw Afridi being dropped from the Test side midway through the home series against England. However, his absence from the Test series against South Africa, away from home, came as a shock, considering the pace-friendly conditions.

Reports soon emerged that Afridi recused himself from the tour, preferring to play white-ball cricket during the lead-up to the Champions Trophy 2025. However, Afridi confirmed that he will always be available to play Test cricket, and lambasted the relentless and baseless rumors and reports.

"I will always be available for Test cricket. What frustrates me is when people say things about me that are just not true. In Pakistan, unfortunately, a lot of the time fans and journalists do not tell or report the truth. That is really dispiriting to see," Afridi said in an interview with ESPN Cricinfo.

"If people say something critical about me but it is based in fact, it doesn't hurt me. But the lies do hurt, especially when journalists - whose job it is to tell the truth - do the opposite of it."

Another persisting set of opinions that Afridi has to deal with regularly is regarding his pace. The general consensus has been that the left-arm seamer has lost his potency after injuring his knee twice in 2022.

However, he defended his current bowling speed, suggesting that the pace has not dipped in a way that makes him toothless with the new ball. Afridi added:

"People take a lot of interest in my speeds. But aside from the 2021 T20 World Cup, if you look at my bowling, I bowl between 135-137kph in the first over. But people notice it now and think my pace is down.

"But I've never felt my pace is down in a way that it is stopping me getting wickets. The body is a bit like a machine and can break down. Sometimes you get fatigued and you can't show it because you have to do what the team requires of you."

The pacer will come into the Champions Trophy on the back of some solid form. He played a huge role in Pakistan's ODI series whitewash in South Africa, picked up four wickets in five matches in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and ended as the joint-highest wicket-taker in the tri-series.

"Such was the silence" - Pakistan's Shaheen Afridi recalls dismissing Shubman Gill in 2023 ODI World Cup

Afridi will be part of the Pakistan team that will play an ICC event on home soil for the first time since 1996. The Men in Green have had decent support behind them wherever they play, be it Sydney or Manchester, but have never experienced the same privilege on home soil until now.

Afridi hopes for a unanimous atmosphere like at the Narendra Modi Stadium, where a crowd of 100,000 were firmly behind the Indian team during the 2023 ODI World Cup clash against Pakistan.

Afridi looked back at the time when he dismissed opening batter Shubman Gill for 16 runs in the third over of the run chase, recalling:

"We always play these events away, and I've always noticed how the home team gets such huge support, which gives you a boost. When we played the World Cup [2023] in India with over 100,000 people watching at the venue, and I got [Shubman] Gill out early on, I felt you could have heard a fly buzzing, such was the silence."

"The crowd can create an atmosphere for that game, unlike what happens for any other game. And that is a different kind of pressure. We're excited to experience that ourselves this time," he added.

Pakistan will play the Champions Trophy 2025 opener against New Zealand at the National Stadium in Karachi on Wednesday, February 19.