Pakistan's young and upcoming pace bowler Shaheen Afridi is facing a very unique type of controversy. He is accused of masturbating while being on a video call with a Pakistani lady, Hareem Shah, who has become famous due to her presence on TikTok.
The video of the disturbing act was shared around on social media after it surfaced on Sunday, October 3. Now, the lady in the spotlight, Shah, has clarified that the account which uploaded this video and the one with which, allegedly, the teenage cricketer engaged, doesn't belong to her.
In a statement issued by her on social media, she has revealed that her presence in this sphere is limited to Instagram and TikTok and the account in question is a fake one, not operated by her. This clarification is her defence. But there is yet to be an explanation from the side of Shaheen.
While talking to Pakistani news channel Geo News, the left-arm pacer tried to ignore the issue rather than wrestle with it.
Even the account of #HareemShah is also fake, she had confirmed that she's only on @tiktok_us & @instagram all other accounts are fake..
— Rehman Mohmand (@Rehman0o) November 1, 2019
It's fake video @iHareemShah don't have any account in @Twitter .#shaheenafridi stay Strong ! pic.twitter.com/Tb6DxyBu0U
"Off the field, the negative news keeps on coming. I try not to pay any attention to it," Afridi stated. However, what he didn't say was whether he is the person in the video or is it a lookalike. This is the second controversy of this nature which has surfaced in recent times involving a Pakistani cricketer.
Earlier, opener Imam-ul-Haq had to face the embarrassment of having his Whatsapp chats with multiple women leaked. Now Afridi has joined the camp. All these developments are very worrying for a team that is trying to regain its footing in international cricket after major changes in the team's administration and is on a tour of Australia.
As would be expected, the video of the man supposed to be Afridi has been deleted by Twitter due to its pornographic content. But in an interesting development, the very account which uploaded this clip, earlier claiming to be that of Hareem Shah, has also closed down. While the lady now says that the account wasn't her own in the first place, it had gathered a huge fan following.
Shaheen is likely to be back in action when the Test series between his team and hosts Australia begins on November 21. Afridi performed well in the World Cup and ended his tournament with a career-best six-wicket haul. He is regarded as the next big superstar of Pakistani cricket in the department of fast bowling. The last thing he needs is a controversy like this.
