Pakistan seamer Salman Mirza has been embroiled in controversy during the ongoing T20 World Cup, as reports emerged that he had misbehaved with a woman at a hotel in Kandy, Sri Lanka during the Pakistan team’s campaign.
After allegations emerged in recent days, the Pakistan Cricket Board released a definitive statement denying these accusations, releasing a statement supporting Mirza without naming the player. However, the seamer took matters into his own hands, using his Instagram profile to defend his name and condemn what he states to be baseless allegations made in the pursuit of ‘cheap journalism’.
“A absurd News is circulating on media and I strongly condemn this sort of Cheap Journalism. Any Media House can’t air any unverified news [sic],” wrote Mirza on an Instagram story on the evening of March 5.
Further, Mirza went on to name the channel and journalist in particular, calling them out and threatening legal action against them. He voiced his anger at the ‘filthy reporting’ and demanded that the government take action against such claims.
“#PakistanCricketBoard has already denied this Baseless & Fake News and i’m going to take Legal Action against #ShahidHashmi (Journalist) who works for ARY NEWS this sort of Flithy reporting must be banned and #GovernmentofPakistan must take action against such people!” read the story.
PCB demands public apology from reporter
A similar note was made by the PCB’s statement, which condemned the report for false news and also warned of taking action against perpetrators of such information, if it is indeed falsified. Mirza also reposted a post made on social media platform X by the PCB, which demanded a public apology from the aforementioned reporter, and threatened to take steps against the ‘malicious content’ if not.
The official handle of the PCB stated: “Agenda-driven fake news targeting the character of our players is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. The reporter must publicly apologise without delay; failing which, the PCB will take all necessary steps to ensure such malicious content is dealt with firmly and nipped in the bud.”
Pakistan’s campaign came to an end in Sri Lanka on Saturday night, when their victory over their hosts wasn’t enough to overturn a big deficit in their net run-rate. They lost their spot to England and New Zealand, with the Kiwis now having progressed through to the finals of the World Cup.
