Pakistan are having a dismal T20 World Cup 2022 campaign in Australia. After suffering a four-wicket defeat at the hands of arch-rivals India on the final delivery, they suffered yet another heartbreaking 1-run loss against Zimbabwe.
Chasing 131 to win against Zimbabwe, Pakistan’s top order once again failed as Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan fell for 4 and 14, respectively. Shan Masood started to the rescue, scoring 44 off 38 balls but Pakistan kept losing wickets at regular intervals and found themselves struggling at 94/6 after 15.1 overs.
With 36 needed off 29 balls, Mohammad Nawaz and Mohammad Wasim Jr did well and took the match to the last over but they failed to take the team home as well. In the last over, 11 runs were needed and the equation became 3 off 3 balls after Nawaz and Wasim scored 8 runs in the first three deliveries as well.
In the dramatic turn of events, Brad Evans bowled a dot and then dismissed Nawaz on the penultimate delivery while Shaheen Afridi got run out on the last ball after finishing just 1 run, leaving Pakistan at 129/8 in 20 overs.
However, after the game, a Pakistani fan uploaded a video on Twitter, where Shaheen can be seen struggling to complete the second run despite a fumble from Zimbabwe wicketkeeper Regis Chakabva as well. And, the video was from the other angle, which clearly showed that Shaheen Afridi was in discomfort while taking the run and his fitness level was not well too.
OMG! Just see Shaheen Afridi running???
Only fools cann't see it!!! pic.twitter.com/XC9ryr382Z— Shakil Shaikh (@shakilsh58) October 28, 2022
Babar Azam, the Pakistan skipper said after the game: “We would have taken 130 at the halfway stage. Very disappointing performance, we are not up to the mark in batting. We have good batters but both openers got out in the powerplay. When Shadab and Shan were building partnership, unfortunately Shadab got out and then back-to-back wickets that pushed us into pressure situation. First 6 overs, we haven’t used the new ball well but we finished well with the ball. We will sit out, discuss our mistakes and we will train hard and come back strong in our next game.”
Here are the reactions on Shaheen Afridi:
Wow wtf. Lanat hamari team selection pe. SHAHEEN ISN'T FIT, DROP HIM FFS https://t.co/RMzyosQLdh
— Khizz (@khizzakk) October 28, 2022
He isn't fit ,why he is in playing xi https://t.co/oBtlnSFeXA
— ®عارف عرفان 🍁 (@iahangerirfan) October 28, 2022
This is cruel, he shouldn’t have been playing….. https://t.co/CulmzboTF3
— Mishal (@michelle_mishal) October 28, 2022
Not fit at all
They should have sent Naseem who has hit back to back sixers in Asia Cup against Afg https://t.co/fVOcqpDn0J
— Aemond (@Daemon_Targ_B) October 28, 2022
Boy is not 100% https://t.co/xr7tYwv1q7
— Adv Ch Umer Iqbal (@ChaudhryUmerIqb) October 28, 2022
Look at Shaheen running. He is not fit. Why would you play someone who is not fully fit? It costed them a very important match… in more ways than one.pic.twitter.com/4FgnhHlQbn
— Kanav Bali🏏 (@Concussion__Sub) October 28, 2022
This was a criminal decision. Shaheen isn't running well according to his potential. The keeper fumbled and still, we failed to make 2 runs. Things would have been different if Haris was there. How many blunders do we make during crucial situations. https://t.co/6RTO69sobg
— Muhammad Zain (@zain175) October 28, 2022
He's almost limping
— nointent¹¹ (@SanaaIqball) October 28, 2022
Poor lad is not at all close to fitness. Not even able to run properly, why risking his career https://t.co/aZcSWR8BFh
— Bharat Cricket 🏏 (@BhartArmy) October 28, 2022
@TheRealPCB why you destroy this @iShaheenAfridi career https://t.co/krqHUK3u3q
— My Ex PM IS Foreign Agent (@DakkuFinyla) October 28, 2022
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