Mumbai: Sarfraz Ahmed, who won the Man of the Match award on Sunday for his hundred against Ireland, preferred to answer TV commentator Ramiz Raja's both questions in English in Urdu.
"It is not that my brother Sarfraz Ahmed does not know English. But he always prefers to respect the national language,” said Sarfraz’s brother Ahsan, over telephone from Pakistan.
"Feel very happy," said Sarfraz Ahmed in Urdu. "Even before the match, Waqar said we haven't scored a hundred so we must try and get the hundred. It was a very important win. It was a do or die match for us. The bowlers and the fielders did really well. You could see they were giving it their all in the do-or-die match," the MoM winner had said in Urdu.
Speaking exclusively minutes after the presentation ceremony in Adelaide, Ahsan said, "Sarfraz Ahmed is a commerce graduate from Karachi University and can understand the English language very well and even speak too. But he is more comfortable in his national language, which is Urdu."
"My brother is a down-to-earth man. Never presents himself as a big man. He even kissed the pitch after registering a first hundred (for Pakistan team) in the World Cup. You could have also seen my brother kissing the national emblem on his helmet after the well-deserved century,” Ahsan signed off.
Shami could not be interviewed:
The English language became barrier for Indian pace bowler Mohammad Shami in the ongoing World Cup.
The pace bowler, who turned 25 during the World Cup, could not be interviewed by the West Indian TV commentator Ian Bishop at the presentation ceremony after the match between India and West Indies in Perth.
"Shami was the player of the match but didn't do the TV interview as he doesn't speak English," ICC's media official Peter Breen has clarified exclusively.
"The host broadcasters chose to proceed as appeared on TV so there was no issue," Breen added further.
However, the issue didn't go down well with Mohammedd Shami's coaches in India.
Speaking from Kolkata and UP, Ashok Malhotra (Bengal coach, Sahmi plays for Bengal in Ranji Trophy) and Badruddin Siddiquie (Shami's childhood coach), said, "Shami should have been interviewed in Hindi by an Indian commentators. There are few Indian commentators (Sunil Gavaskar, Saurav Ganguly, Hasha Bhogle etc.) in the World Cup who could have sought Shami's comments in Hindi."
"Even if that was not possible, the Indian team management should have sent an interpreter with Shami," they added.
"Shami has studied in Hindi. But he can understand and speak in English. Of course, speaking English in India and in overseas is different and that was the reason why he was not interviewed," Shami's childhood coach, Badruddin signed off.
Shami’s father, hailing from Uttar Pradesh, said, "My son is graduated in English from Bareilly's Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand University. He may not be a good speaker but can read and write in English."
