Akram said he had to remind his “good friend” that it was just a game and Afghanistan defeating England in Pakistani conditions was always on the cards.

“The way they are playing, the cricket-loving people of England must be quite upset. I just messaged my dear friend Neil Fairbrother, he literally told me ‘I wept’. I told him, ‘hang on buddy, it is just a game and it was always on the cards’,” Akram said on Ten Sports show ‘Dressing Room’.

Akram and Fairbrother go back a long way. They shared the dressing room for a long time in the English County side Lancashire. Fairbrother, a stylish left-handed batter, played 10 Tests and 75 ODIs for England. He was an absolute legend at the domestic level, playing a whopping 366 first-class matches, scoring more than 20000 runs that included 47 centuries.

Akram criticised England’s team selection. “If you look at the England squad, you will see there are three specialist batters. There are eight specialist bowlers, but still, they fell short of a fifth bowler. Joe Root was bowling. Can somebody explain to me why they picked a squad with a gazillion of bowlers,” the former Pakistan captain added.

Buttler to review captaincy future after England’s Champions Trophy exit

A listless England, barring Joe Root who smashed a century, suffered an eight-run defeat against the Afghans. Chasing 326 for victory, England were bundled out for 317 with Afghanistan batter Ibrahim Zadran smashing a superb 177 and pacer Azmatullah Omarzai grabbing a five-wicket haul.

“I don’t want to say any emotional statements right now. But I think for myself and the other guys at the top, we should consider all possibilities,” said Buttler in the post-match presentation on his future as the England white-ball skipper.

This is the third successive failed ICC tournament campaign by England under Buttler’s captaincy after the 2023 World Cup in India and the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Americas.

England had suffered a humiliating 69-run loss to Afghanistan in the group-stage of the 2023 Cricket World Cup in New Delhi.

“It’s really disappointing. I thought we had our chances in the game. Another fantastic game of cricket, but disappointing to come out on the wrong side,” added Buttler, whose side was in the match till the 48th over when they lost the wicket of Jamie Overton, who was going great guns at the back end.