In a Super 12 match that was hampered by rain on Wednesday, Ireland pulled off the biggest upset of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 so far, defeating the defending champions England by five runs using the Duckworth-Lewis system.
Set to chase 158, England lost five wickets for 105 runs before the umpires suspended play due to persistent rain, allowing Ireland to pull off an incredible victory as the batting side was five runs off the mark using the D/L method.
Pakistan’s right-arm fast bowler Hassan Ali has recently opened up about Matthew Wade’s drop catch in the T20 World Cup. The pacer said that he cried after dropping that catch.
In an interview, Hassan revealed that he cried after that incident and so did Shaheen following the dropped catch.
“After the match, I was crying and so was Shaheen, it was an extremely sad moment,” said Hassan.
Hassan also revealed that he ‘wasn’t able to sleep for days’, terming it as the toughest phase of his career.
“It was a tough moment of my career and it was quite difficult for me to forget. I haven’t revealed this to anyone until now but I didn’t sleep for two days, my wife was with me and she was tense as I was not sleeping,” he said.
“Shoaib bhai came to me and told me that you are a tiger and that I shouldn’t fall. In addition to that, I also received a lot of support on social media which helped me ease through the pain,” he said.
He went on to say that he was gutted following that costly dropped catch but he decided to move on while travelling to Bangladesh briefly after Pakistan’s exit from the mega event.
“I was quiet and sitting at the side as the dropped catch was appearing in my mind continuously but while travelling to Bangladesh I told myself that I should move on,” he said.
Hassan also added that the 27-year-old pacer does not take the matches lightly and always tries to perform for Pakistan.
It is pertinent to mention here, following that dropped catch from Hassan, Wade smashed three consecutive sixes to Shaheen and powered his side to the victory which also booked a final berth for the Kangaroos.
When, on the last ball of the 18th over, Asif Ali refused to take a single, rather than adding a run to Pakistan’s score with the required run rate almost touching the 12-run mark, it was obvious that he was confident enough in his abilities to take his team over the line. Or so it seemed. Two nights before, his quickfire cameo had helped Pakistan cruise to victory in a grudge match against New Zealand. Against Afghanistan, he picked up from where he had left off against New Zealand and pulled it off with aplomb to ensure that Pakistan’s record in this tournament remains unsullied.
Heretofore, Asif’s selection in the World Cup squad drew a massive outcry. Many were of the view that he lacked the tools to translate his domestic exploits to the international stage and gratuitously touted him as a tulla, laparoo and fraudiya even though he had shown glimpses of his hard-hitting prowess multiple times for his PSL side. An average of 16 and strike rate below 125 – Asif’s sorry set of batting stats in T20Is prior to the tournament – are without a doubt dismal and not remotely redolent of someone who can thrive at the highest level. Steadfastly determined to prove that he is not a flash in the pan, Asif navigated the choppy waters and chose the biggest stage to rehabilitate himself.
In both the matches, Asif strode out to the middle in unnerving and high-pressure situations. When he walked out to bat against New Zealand in the 15th over, Pakistan was teetering at 87 for 5 in pursuit of 135 and the required run-rate had shot past nine an over. After kicking off his World Cup campaign with a four-off Trent Boult over the third man region, he took a liking to Tim Southee and whacked him for back-to-back sixes before pulling Trent Boult for a maximum and scoring a brace off him to clinch Pakistan’s second win in the tournament.
Against Afghanistan, when he came to bat, his side was 122 for 4 and the required run rate had crept up to more than eight with 26 runs required from the last three overs. Asif, however, only needed seven balls to get the job done. After opening his account with a single off Naveen-ul-Haq, he mercilessly dispatched seamer Karim Janat for four majestic maximums in an over to maintain Pakistan’s perfect record in the tournament. Fittingly, it was his bat from which the winning runs flowed in both the games.
To put into context how good Asif’s six-hitting has been and how hard sixes are to come by in this tournament, take a look at this stat: Asif took 19 deliveries for these seven sixes. On the other hand, Indian batsmen took 250 balls for seven sixes, New Zealand batsmen took 240 balls for seven sixes while West Indian batsmen took 147 balls to hit seven sixes.
More crucially, none of the seven sixes Asif struck against Afghanistan or New Zealand were mishits or mis-timed slogs. His pyrotechnics featured meaty blows over long-off, midwicket, extra cover and wide long-on — an indicator of his expansive hitting arc.
Although Pakistan has got world number one and world number 4 T20I batters at the top of the order, they need someone who can put the finishing touches and up the ante down the order. At the biggest stage, Asif has advertised his credentials, repaid the faith of those who had faith in him, and made a telling statement that Pakistan have found the right man in him to do that job.
After Pakistan’s amazing victory against India in the T20 World Cup, a private university in Karachi announced a holiday to celebrate the win.
Sir Syed University announced that the university will be closed on 25th October, following a historic victory for Pakistan.
Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology took to social media to announce the news.
Pakistan defeated India for the first time in a World Cup match by 10 wickets last night, making history.
As cricket fever reaches its peak, fans around the world are looking forward to the upcoming Pakistan-India blockbuster T20 World Cup match.
Geo News brought together cricketing legends from both countries for two high-octane exchanges on Saturday.
Veterans like Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mushtaq Ahmed and Sohail Tanveer where Pakistani panelists and host was Shahzad Iqbal, while Indian side had Sunil Gavaskar, Harbhajan Singh and Madan Lal on the Geo News/Aaj Tak ‘taakra’.
When the question was asked by Shahzad that who is the better player among both skippers Babar Azam and Virat Kohli in T20 cricket, all the panelists gave their opinions on it.
Madan Lal said: “Virat is way ahead than Babar as we all have witnessed his performance in all three formats of cricket and it has always been better than Babar.”
While Sunil said: “Virat has played a lot of cricket so he has a better record but the talenr Babar holds, gives him a better chance to him to get more runs in the future.”
He also added that Virat used to score 60, 70 runs but after when he scored centuries, he was also counted in great players. Babar has the potential as he is a very good batsman and easily scores 60, 70 runs but then get out after that. When he will score hundreds in Tests and One Days, he will be counted among number one batsmen. He has that potential.
“Virat Kohli is a great player and I think he is a legend in modern day cricket. Yes Babar need some time to get to that mark but but he has that game and definitely he can become one of cricketing greats of Pakistan like Inzamam-ul-Haq and Saeed Anwar,” said former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh.
Former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq said: “Babar Azam and Virat Kohli are both great players, but the way Babar is batting, I think he will break all records.”
He further added: “Kohli has given a lot of performances for his country, but Babar’s record is better than Kohli’s in terms of the amount of cricket he has played, Babar has yet to reach the heights of his career, Babar’s best game is yet to come. Babar’s hunger for runs makes him better than others. I have never seen such hunger for runs in any other batsman. Virat has a lot of aggression. If I compare the technique, Babar’s technique looks better than Kohli’s.”
“I agree with Inzi and Sunny (Inzamam and Sunil) that both are great players. Virat’s stats are very strong and Babar is still not there but I’ll agree with Inzi that Babar can be at number one forever,” said Pakistan’s great spinner Mushtaq Ahmed.
While Tanveer said that it took a long time for Kohli to become what he is and if we take a look at current form and performances of last three-four years of Babar, “He has that guts and he has all the skills to become world number one player and has become the number one.”
“By the time and experience he will become more confident and his abilities will also come to the fore,” he added.
It’s pertinent to mention here that the arch-rivals will be facing each other on Sunday 7pm PST at the Dubai International Stadium.
A video shared by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on its official Twitter account shows cricketer Shahnawaz Dahani and Pakistan captain Babar Azam playing cricket with a few kids in a hotel’s narrow corridor during their quarantine.
“Quarantine = Cricket time!! Pakistan @T20WorldCup squad spending their isolation time while playing cricket with kids,” said the PCB in its post.
Babar Azam can be seen sitting on the floor of the corridor, bowling to a kid.
While fast bowler Shahnawaz Dahani can be seen acting as an umpire as one kid throws a ball to another.
Pakistani cricket players are in quarantine in order to fly for the T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to start from October 17 in Oman, United Arab Emirates. (UAE)