Shaheen Afridi with skipper Babar Azam after clinching the win against Ireland (AP)
The star of the show for the Men in Green was ace pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, who found his stride early with the ball, and provided the needed spark with the bat towards the end to help his side cross the finish line.
Failure is the stepping stone to success. Perhaps Pakistan would want to tell themselves the same, as they crashed out of the T20 World Cup 2024 after a nail-biting 3-wicket victory over Ireland to save face.
The star of the show for the Men in Green was ace pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, who found his stride early with the ball, and provided the needed spark with the bat towards the end to help his side cross the finish line.
But, it all started with his blistering spell of 3/22 in the first innings, where the pacer wreaked havoc to remove the likes of Balbirnie, Tucker and Tector out the gate.
“The wicket was supporting the new ball, we just tried to hit our good areas and strike early, and thankfully, our plans were a success. My idea was to bowl fuller,” stated Afridi in a post-match interview after picking up his Player of the Match award.
Afridi’s exploits were not limited to just the ball though. The hard-hitting batter came in after the fall of Pakistan’s 7th wicket and hammered two sixes in swift time to seal the deal for his side and clinch the win.
“That’s my job, I come late (to bat) in the innings, I just hit. The team needed it. I am always trying to hit sixes,” stated a jovial Afridi.
But, tonight’s result was no reflection of Pakistan’s tournament in any way, as they crashed out of the T20 World Cup after hosts USA secured the second placed-finish earlier this week.
Pakistan, who were situated at third place in the table, had pinned all their hopes on a deflated Ireland side, which had incurred only two losses so far in the tournament, to steal the two points away from the hosts USA, and to provide a fighting chance for Pakistan to face off against none other than Pakistan itself in the last match of the group.
But, now with the suspension of the last USA match granting them 5 points in total, Pakistan could only muster up a best of 4 points after their win over Ireland and indubitably fell short of USA’s tally.
“We didn’t play good cricket which our country demands. There are few areas we need to improve quickly, Champions Trophy is coming. We have to improve and we’ll have to grow as a team,” stated Afridi.
“Crowd – they always come and support us, thank you everyone for the support. It’s tough times but they always come and support us, that’s what we need as a team.”
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