'Little disgusting' - Shoaib Akhtar on Australia's 'shoey' celebration after maiden T20 World Cup triumph

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar termed Australia’s way of celebrating their T20 World Cup victory a “little disgusting”. Australia handed an eight-wicket defeat to New Zealand in the final on November 14 to clinch their maiden world title in the shortest format.

Later, the team was seen celebrating in the dressing room, as they poured beer in their shoes before consuming it. Akhtar, posting a video of the same, asked: “A little disgusting way of celebrating no??”.

Australia, who entered with defeats in each one of their five bilateral series preceding the tournament, scripted a brilliant turnaround to quieten their critics, as they completed their trophy cabinet with the win over New Zealand, after knocking out Pakistan in the semi-final.

A little disgusting way of celebrating no?? pic.twitter.com/H96vMlabC8

— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) November 15, 2021

It’s been a great team effort: Justin Langer

Australia head coach Justin Langer, who found himself in the spotlight not long ago with questions over his leadership style and over Australia’s diminishing performances in the 20-over format under him, was elated after the victory.

“Everyone that wins a World Cup says it’s hard to process, it’s hard to put in words, but this is such a wonderful group of people. Every coach and every captain says the same but we have got some amazing cricketers here,” Langer said after the final.

“We haven’t had a chance to play together for different reasons for the last 12 months. When we all got back together, it was almost like a reunion. There are so many close relationships there, a very special moment for everyone. We knew when we came together how much talent we had. There’s enormous talent in the team. When we were in the West Indies and Bangladesh, there were a few missing pieces, Mitch Marsh took one of those pieces and he’s been brilliant. We also embraced fun.”

“In these situations, when everyone’s talking about bubble, these guys have had so much fun on and off the ground. In this form of game, you actually it’s important to have fun and enjoy, the guys have done that. I think that was a really important part of the success here,” he added.