Source: PTI
Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afghanistan’s captain, celebrated his team’s ‘historic win’ against Pakistan in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 at Chennai, describing the victory as ‘sweet’. He emphasized that they wouldn’t rest on their laurels and would continue to work hard to secure more victories in the tournament.
Shahidi, with an unbeaten 48 off 45 balls, struck the winning boundary to complete Afghanistan’s remarkable 283-run chase, surpassing their previous highest ODI chase of 274 against the UAE in Dubai in 2014.
“This win tastes sweet,” he said. “The way we chased was very professional. We are now looking forward to the other games. We have played quality cricket over the last two years and performed well in the Asia Cup.”
Afghanistan’s World Cup campaign has seen them defeat England, the defending champions, and Pakistan, catapulting them to the sixth position in the points table.
“We aimed to show our quality and play positive cricket,” said Shahidi. “We have beaten England and Pakistan, and we hope for more victories. We are feeling positive and looking forward to the upcoming matches. We are confident we can secure more wins from here.”
He also showered praise on Noor Ahmad, the 18-year-old spinner who made a memorable World Cup debut in Chennai, taking three wickets. He also acknowledged the collective efforts of the Afghanistan batters.
“The spinners performed terrifically, and Noor’s bowling was incredible.,” he said. “The way Gurbaz and Ibrahim started was great for us, and the manner in which Rahmat and I finished was the icing on the cake.”
Ibrahim Zadran, who laid the foundation for Afghanistan’s successful run chase alongside Rahmanullah Gurbaz, revealed that he had a clear plan to play with “positive intent” against Pakistan’s bowlers. He also shared insights into his partnership with Gurbaz at the top.
“I wanted to approach the game with a positive mindset and intent, and I executed it,” said Zadran, who was named man of the match for his 87. “Gurbaz and I have played a lot of cricket together; we have good communication when running between the wickets, as we’ve been playing together since our under-16 days. The support from Gurbaz in our opening partnership helped us build momentum in our favor. I’m feeling great for myself and my country.”
Pakistan found their total of 282-7 insufficient, despite skipper Babar Azam’s 74 and opener Abdullah Shafique’s 58. Their bowlers failed to provide early breakthroughs, and poor fielding compounded their troubles.
Babar expressed his disappointment, saying, “This hurts us. We had a good total. In the bowling department, we weren’t up to the mark because we didn’t take wickets in the middle overs. In the World Cup, if you’re lacking in even one department, you’ll lose the match. In the field, we couldn’t prevent boundaries and gave away runs, which cost us.”
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Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afghanistan’s captain, celebrated his team’s ‘historic win’ against Pakistan in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 at Chennai, describing the victory as ‘sweet’. He emphasized that they…
The post Shahidi Confident Afghanistan can Pull off More Upsets appeared first on RevSportz | Latest Sports News.
