Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik during an event. Twitter photo

Tariq Butt  

The cricket fans expressed their anger over a viral video, showing Sania Mirza, Shoaib Malik and other Pakistani cricket stars sitting together in a café, while some of their friends having Sheesha.

Sania Mirza also responded to the allegations, saying: "(The) 'outing' was dinner, and yes, people are allowed to eat if they lose a match!"

Pakistan cricketers did not violate curfew the day before the high-profile World Cup fixture against India, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Monday rubbishing rumours.

"The cricketers did not violate their curfew," a PCB spokesperson told DawnNewsTV as quoted by the Dawn.

"The videos and photographs that went viral (on social media) are from two days before the match. The day before the match against India, all the players were in their hotel rooms by curfew time," the spokesperson said.

Some of the Pakistani cricket fans said they have seen Shoaib Malik and others smoking Sheesha in the café located on the Winslow Road just few hours before a crucial clash with India.

Smoking Sheesha might not be a crime, but just few hours before the much- awaited match against India really sparked anger among the Pakistan cricket fans and gave birth to speculations.

Shoaib Malik walked into bat with Pakistan in trouble chasing a mammoth 337. He came into bat with Pakistan reeling at 129/4 in the 27th over.   But once again he was dismissed for duck in that crucial clash, since than fans   started roasting Sania Mirza.

SARFARAZ IS ‘BRAINLESS’ CAPTAIN, SAYS AKHTAR

Meanwhile, former cricketer Shaoib Akhtar has declared Sarfaraz Ahmed a 'brainless' captain after the green shirts suffered a humiliating defeat.

Sarfaraz Ahmed during a ceremony. File

In a hard-hitting video statement after the India match, Shaoib Akhtar expressed anger over Sarfaraz's decision to bat first despite knowing the fact that Pakistan is weak at chase and we have seen this during Australia match.

He endorsed what Prime Minister Imran Khan and Wasim Akram had suggested earlier to bat first as bowling was Pakistan’s strength.

India set a mammoth target of 336 for Pakistan after being put into bat first. The bowlers failed to make good use of the overcast conditions as Indian openers played aggressively and scored freely. Rohit Sharma, who was given a second life by sloppy Pakistani fielders, hit a century.

Akhtar roasted Hassan Ali over his bad bowling throughout the World Cup. ‘Showing off at Wagah border [with India near Lahore] wont’t work you have to deliver in the ground where it is needed,’ he told Ali adding that ‘PSL is in his mind and he is not focused on ODIs’.

Inputs from IANS