T20 World Cup 2022: In a massive setback, Pakistan lost yet another T20 nail-biter against Zimbabwe on Thursday. Prior to this, Pakistan had endured a four-wicket loss against India in their first match in the tournament.
The defeat is a big one as Zimbabwe was considered the underdog in the clash and they were not expected to pull off the second biggest upset in the tournament – the first being Ireland’s win against England.
Since the match ended, netizens have lost their cool and are criticising the Pakistani team’s performance. A user named Big Nas took to Twitter and targeted Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. “Babar and Rizwan catfish all of Pakistan. These 2 stat pad all year round in meaningless bilateral series, then when World Cup come, both go missing like democracy in Pakistan,” he said.
Chasing 131 for victory, Pakistan could score only 129 with 8 down. Mohammad Rizwan scored 14 off 16 deliveries while Azam could contribute with 4 runs off 9 balls.
Both the openers had also disappointed their Pakistani fans against India. In that clash too, Rizwan scored 4 while Azam could not even open his account – this was a crucial contest.
A user by the name of The Accountant today said that Pakistan had even lost bilateral. Another user said that “finally Pakistan qualified for the Karachi airport”.
However, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi defended the team saying he won’t call the result an upset as Zimbabwe played top cricket from the start and showed how to defend a low total on a batting pitch.
“Won’t call the result an upset, if you watched the match you know Zimbabwe played top cricket from ball #1 and showed how to defend a low total on a batting pitch. Congratulations @ZimCricketv on the win, your passion and hard work shows #PAKvsZIM,” he said.
Pakistan team squad
Mohammad Rizwan(w), Babar Azam(c), Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Haider Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Asif Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Khushdil Shah, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Wasim Jr
Zimbabwe team squad
Regis Chakabva(w), Craig Ervine(c), Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza, Wesley Madhevere, Milton Shumba, Ryan Burl, Luke Jongwe, Tendai Chatara, Blessing Muzarabani, Tony Munyonga, Wellington Masakadza, Brad Evans, Clive Madande, Richard Ngarava
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