Glenn Maxwell doesn’t shake hands with Sarfraz Ahmed after the tri-series final

Pakistan and Australia locked horns at the Harare Sports Club in the final of the T20I tri-series in Zimbabwe. The Men in Green produced their best cricket in the series to beat the Aussies by 6 wickets to retain their No.1 ranking in T20I cricket. After the conclusion of the match, Pakistan’s ecstatic skipper Sarfraz Ahmed rushed onto the ground to congratulate praise his for completing a professional effort. However, when he extended his hand towards Glenn Maxwell for a shake he got no response.

Earlier in the morning, it was Aaron Finch who won the toss and decided to bat first. The idea was to post a big enough total on the board to put the opposition under pressure in the big final. They had a magnificent start with Finch and D’Arcy Short hitting the ball really well. Short got to his half century but a disappointing effort from the middle order kept them under a par score. 183 on this kind of a wicket was a score the opposition would feel confident chasing.

Maxwell could make a difference of just 5 runs with the bat but skipper Finch handed him the new ball to see what could possibly happen. The off-spinner got a wicket on the very first ball, it was wide but debutant Sahibzada Farhan was stumped for a diamond duck. Hussain Talhat hit the ball straight to the fielder on the second ball he faced and in no time Maxwell had two wickets and given his team the best possible first over.

Pakistan recovered dramatically with Fakhar Zaman acting as the anchor and Sarfraz also playing a useful knock worth 28. Shoaib Malik then got in and ensured they got through with his 43-ball 37. Zaman was dismissed on 91 just short of his maiden T20I hundred. Malik along with Asif Ali took them home with 6 wickets in hand.

After the conclusion of the game as Pakistan celebrated their massive victory, Maxwell wasn’t quite happy and that could be the only reason why he denied the offer from Sarfraz to shake hands. It is also a gesture that is against the spirit of the gentleman’s game which is supposed to be played in good faith.

Watch the video of the incident:

For those who missed it. This is what happened. pic.twitter.com/nORNAMLTPR

— Taimoor Zaman (@taimoorze) July 8, 2018