Afghanistan created history on Monday as they secured a much-awaited victory against Pakistan for the first time in ODI matches. The Hashmatullah Shahidi-led side made a strong performance with the bat and the ball, ultimately securing an 8-wicket defeat in Chepauk.
Batting first in Chennai, Pakistan managed to set up a target of 283 runs for the Afghani side. However, the Men in Green were in for a surprise with Afghanistan‘s batters easily managing to chase down the target with Rahmanullah Gurbaz(65), Ibrahim Zadran (87) and Rahmat Shah (77).
Pakistan media reacts to Babar Azam and Co.’s shocking defeat:
“The victory for Afghanistan comes at a time of tense political and diplomatic relations between the two neighbours. Pakistan were sloppy in the field as they conceded easy boundaries with openers Zadran and Gurbaz taking their side to 100 in the 16th over.” DAWN reported.
Former Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar reacted to the Men in Green’s loss against their neighbours while speaking to DNA he said, ‘A better team has won today. I have no words to describe this, I have literally zero words.
Another former Pakistani veteran Wasim Akram told Pakistan’s A Sports, “You know it was embarrassing today, making 280-290 runs while losing just 2 wickets is a big score whatever the pitch conditions.”
“Look at the fitness level of our players. We have been saying this that Pakistani players have not faced a fitness test for the last 2 years. There should be some test, you guys are being paid professionally, playing for your country and there has to be certain criteria.” Akram added
Babar Azam responds to Pakistan’s defeat against Afghanistan:
Speaking at the post-match press conference about the 8 wicket loss against Afghanistan, Babar said, “This defeat hurts. We thought we had posted a good total on the board, one that our bowlers could defend. However, our bowlers were simply not up to the mark as we neither managed to pick wickets in the middle overs (of the Afghanistan innings) nor put a check on the scoring rate. If you fail to deliver the goods in even one department, you end up on the losing side. It’s as simple as that. We couldn’t stop the boundaries and gave away easy runs, which cost us in the end. As far as our bowling is concerned, I thought we started well but couldn’t effect breakthroughs in the middle overs,”
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Updated: 24 Oct 2023, 07:10 AM IST