Did Pakistan falter on the essential second? Shahid Afridi expresses concern over Babar Azam’s group collapse in must-win match against Sri Lanka
Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi expressed his dissatisfaction with the adjustments in the batting order in the course of the essential Asia Cup 2023 match against Sri Lanka. The match, a digital semi-final between the co-hosts, noticed Pakistan electing to bat after successful the toss, regardless of a historical past of rain interruptions.
Babar Azam, coping with accidents, needed to make 5 adjustments to the taking part in XI following their huge 228-run defeat to India. Pakistan’s batting struggled, with Fakhar Zaman falling early, and Abdullah Shafique’s half-century missing help. They had been at 130/5 at one level.
However, Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed rescued Pakistan with a 108-run partnership. Despite their success, Afridi criticized the batting order on social media, suggesting they “missed the trick.”
“Did Pakistan miss the trick? We might have made higher selections in the batting order. What do you guys assume? In my opinion this was not the perfect batting order in keeping with the scenario. @Asiacup2023,” wrote Afridi on X (formerly Twitter).
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Did Pakistan miss the trick? We might have made higher selections in the batting order. What do you guys assume?
In my opinion this was not the perfect batting order in keeping with the scenario. @Asiacup2023
— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) September 14, 2023
Afridi probably believed Shadab Khan ought to have batted forward of Iftikhar Ahmed. Nonetheless, Iftikhar contributed with a 46-run knock, supporting Rizwan, who remained unbeaten with 86, serving to Pakistan put up 252/7 in 42 overs, following rain interruptions.
Sri Lanka, with a revised goal of 252 in 252 balls as a result of rain, had a promising begin. Shadab performed a task in two dismissals as Pakistan defended their whole.
