Former Pakistan Test cricketer Azhar Ali came out in support of the young cricketers who are currently playing against Afghanistan in Sharjah.
A young and relatively inexperienced Pakistani team lost to Afghanistan. After the defeat, people started criticizing the young players.
Reacting to the criticism, Azhar urged people not to judge players after a poor performance.
“It’s very unfortunate that people on social media start criticizing the election immediately after the defeat that it’s easy to say the latter.
“They talk about strengthening the bench but they can’t even be patient. All these players have the ability to bounce back,” he wrote.
It is so unfortunate that people on social media straight away start to criticise the selection after a defeat it’s easy saying things in hindsight.They speak about building bench strength but they can’t even be patient. All these players have potential to bounce back.
— Azhar Ali (@AzharAli_) March 25, 2023
A day earlier, veteran all-rounder Mohammad Nabi led Afghanistan to a six-wicket win over a rejuvenated Pakistan in the first T20I of the three-match series on Friday.
After winning the toss and batting at the Sharjah Stadium, Nabi took 2-12 to restrict Pakistan to 92-9 and Mujeeb-ur-Rehman (9-2-9) and fast bowler Fazl-ul-Haq Farooqui (2-13). Helped.
Nabi then kept his cool with a cautious run-a-ball 38 not out and added 53 runs for the fifth wicket with Najeebullah Zadran (17 not out) to help Afghanistan reach the target in 17.5 overs.
Nabi hit his first boundary on his 27th ball and then hit two more fours off Naseem Shah in the next over with a six off Ehsanullah to seal the win.
This is Afghanistan’s first win against Pakistan in four T20I matches.
Fast bowler Ehsanullah (2-17) dismissed Ibrahim Zadran (nine) on the first ball of his T20I career and then Gulbuddin Naib (none) had to leave Afghanistan at 45-4 but Nabi and Najeebullah ensured victory.
“It was a difficult score to chase down in these conditions,” Nabi said after being adjudged man of the match.
“As a bowling unit, we wanted to keep them under 100 and that’s what we did.
“With the bat, I wanted to take responsibility and close the game. Most of the guys in our squad are playing in the big leagues, some have been here in the UAE for 15 days, so we were set. . Feels like thirty-eight hundred on this wicket.”
Pakistan’s stand-in captain Shadab Khan admitted that his new players were nervous.
“Strategically, we were fine,” Shadab said. “But sometimes that can be because young people are nervous. They need to be given a chance, they will get better.”
With five key players — captain Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf rested for the series — Pakistan gave T20 debuts to Saeem Ayub, Tayyab Tahir, Ehsanullah and Zaman Khan.
