Pakistan are enduring a dismal T20 World Cup 2022 campaign in Australia. After suffering a four-wicket defeat at the hands of arch-rivals India on the last delivery, the Men in Green copped a heartbreaking 1-run loss against Zimbabwe.
Chasing 131 to win versus Zimbabwe, Pakistan’s top order once again disappointed as Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan fell for 4 and 14, respectively. Shan Masood came to the rescue, scoring 44 off 38 balls but Pakistan kept losing wickets at regular intervals and found themselves reeling at 94/6 after 15.1 overs.
With 36 needed off 29 balls, Mohammad Nawaz and Mohammad Wasim Jr did a great job to bring Pakistan into the contest and took the match to the last over but they failed to take the team over the finishing line.
In the last over, 11 runs were required and the equation became 3 off 3 balls after Nawaz and Wasim scored 8 runs in the first three deliveries. In the dramatic turn of events, however, Brad Evans bowled a dot and then dismissed Nawaz on the penultimate delivery while Shaheen Afridi got run out on the last ball after completing just 1 run, leaving Pakistan at 129/8 in 20 overs.
After the game, a Pakistani fan uploaded a video on Twitter, in which Shaheen can be seen struggling to complete the second run despite a fumble from Zimbabwe wicketkeeper Regis Chakabva.
The video was from the other angle, which clearly suggests that Shaheen was in discomfort while taking the run and his fitness level was not up to the mark.
After the video went viral, fans slammed the PCB for rushing the left-arm pacer after his recovery from knee injury.
Here are the reactions:
Notably, Shaheen Afridi was out of action for a couple of months due to his knee injury followed by rehab in London. The lanky fast bowler was cleared by the PCB medical team before he made his comeback in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
While Shaheen hasn’t looked in discomfort while bowling, the above video certainly shows his lack of fitness.
Pakistan will take on Netherlands in their third Super 12 match at Perth on Sunday (October 30).
