Following the game, Pakistan’s captain Babar Azam was extremely angry and made sure Afghanistan was aware of his frustration. The 2nd ODI between Pakistan and Afghanistan was an intense contest.

Afghanistan was on the brink of a historic win, their first against Pakistan in an ODI before Naseem Shah and Shadab Khan turned the tide. After posting 300/5 with Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s impressive century, Afghanistan had Pakistan at 211/6. With 27 needed off the last two overs, Shadab Khan and Naseem Shah shifted the momentum.

Shadab hit a six and a four in the 49th over, leaving Pakistan needing 11 off the final over. Before the start of the final over, a dramatic sequence of events unfolded. As Fazalhaq Farooqi prepared to bowl the first ball, he cleverly ran out Shadab at the non-striker’s end.

Catching Shadab off guard, Farooqi dislodged the bails, leading to a contentious decision after referral to the third umpire. Shadab, visibly surprised, left the field while the entire Pakistani team was infuriated. Despite the controversy, Naseem Shah once again prevented Afghanistan from winning, delivering a four on the first ball and another four on the penultimate ball, securing a narrow one-wicket victory for Pakistan.

This outcome echoed Naseem’s previous match-winning moment against Afghanistan in the previous year’s Asia Cup, where he hit consecutive sixes in the last over to secure victory. Yet, despite Pakistan surviving another close situation, the controversial run-out involving Farooqi remained a significant issue. Babar Azam, visibly infuriated, took the lead in expressing Pakistan’s dissatisfaction.

His icy post-match interactions spread widely online. Babar’s handshakes with the Afghanistan team were forceful and distant, deliberately avoiding eye contact. Later, he discussed the incident with Afghanistan’s captain Mohammad Nabi.

When the time came for Babar to exchange pleasantries with his Afghan counterpart, he indicated towards Farooqi, potentially alluding to the incident, aiming to convey his point to Nabi. However, Nabi opted not to engage and proceeded with the formalities.

Babar Azam, the Pakistan captain, expressed his anger to Afghanistan after the match

Even they made babar looks angry. 😤 ❤️‍🔥#BabarAzam𓃵 #BabarAzam #PAKvAFG #NaseemShah pic.twitter.com/697t3HhNXd

— Anas tweets 2.0 (@anas_ali2000) August 24, 2023

However, Babar’s anger subsided when he had his turn to speak at the post-match presentation ceremony, following Pakistan’s thrilling victory with just one ball left.

“All credit to the boys. We just tried to build the partnership when me and Imam were playing, just wanted to play long and see where we stand after 40 overs. We knew we could chase 80 or 90 in the last 10 overs. Naseem also comes up in crunch situations,” He mentioned this as Pakistan went up 2-0 in the series.

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