Former Pakistan cricket captain Shahid Afridi announced on Twitter on Saturday that he had tested positive for COVID-19.
Afridi tweeted, "I’ve been feeling unwell since Thursday; my body had been aching badly. I’ve been tested and unfortunately I’m COVID positive. Need prayers for a speedy recovery..."
I’ve been feeling unwell since Thursday; my body had been aching badly. I’ve been tested and unfortunately I’m covid positive. Need prayers for a speedy recovery, InshaAllah #COVID19 #pandemic #hopenotout #staysafe #stayhome
— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) June 13, 2020
Afridi, who retired from international cricket in 2018, has continued to play in T20 leagues in multiple nations. Afridi played for Pakistan between 1998 and 2018, featuring in 27 Tests, 398 ODIs and 99 T20 Internationals.
Afridi has been in the news for provocative utterances and social media tussles in recent months. Last month, Indian cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh criticised him for accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a video that had gone viral on social media of committing religious atrocities in India. Harbhajan and Yuvraj had been trolled for supporting an NGO run by Afridi.
The comments on Modi also led to a Twitter tussle between former India opener Gautam Gambhir and Afridi. Gambhir called Afridi a "16 year old" man.
Pakistan has been seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks. Pakistan's COVID-19 cases reached 1,32,405 after a record 6,472 new infections were detected, while 88 more people have succumbed to the coronavirus, pushing the death toll to 2,551, the health ministry said on Saturday.
