'When the match takes place' - Shadab Khan responds to controversial Agarkar quote on Kohli

The rising young Pakistan spin allrounder gave his response to the question put forth in Hambantota after India's chief selector got misquoted on social media.

By Kashish Chadha Updated: Aug 27, 2023, 15:42 IST

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Social media went into frenzy over a misquoted statement from chief selector Ajit Agarkar following the announcement of India's 17-member squad for the Asia Cup 2023 on August 21.

A fake quote did the rounds on Twitter, peddled mainly by the fans of Indian batting great Virat Kohli, where Agarkar was claimed to have said during the presser, Kohli would "look after them", when asked how the team plans to deal with Pakistan's much-vaunted pace battery.

Unfortunately, there was little effort spent on verifying the quote and the statement on the outside, and with the matter attaining controversial proportions, a Pakistani journalist presented a question pertaining to the viral false quote to the country's rising young cricketer Shadab Khan on Saturday (August 26) night.

Following Pakistan's victory to complete the 3-0 ODI series whitewash over Afghanistan in Hambantota, Shadab was asked for his views about the statement Agarkar never made. The cricketer didn't lose his temper or offered any counter-response, but retained admirable calm and balanced outlook.

Shadab responds to viral Agarkar quote on Kohli

Speaking to the press during a media interaction organised after the third One-Dayer in Sri Lanka, Shadab gave a fine answer without ruffling any feathers either side of the border.

The 24-year-old said upcoming Asia Cup encounter on September 2 in Pallekele between the two great rivals, featuring Kohli and his team's famous pace trio of Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf, will itself be the response to such comments on the outside.

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"See, it all depends on what happens that day. Me or someone else, or someone from their side, can say whatever they want. It doesn't make any difference. When the match takes place, then only we'll get to know what is the reality," Shadab was quoted as saying by NDTV.

Soon, however, wider section of fans revisited the clip from the press conference held in the presence of Agarkar and Indian skipper Rohit Sharma in Delhi and realised there was no such quote ever made by the former international seamer.