England needed 41 runs to win the title in the last five overs in the final of the T20 World Cup 2022 against Pakistan. They probably never thought that they could make this run so easily with Shaheen Shah Afridi having two overs to bowl.
But the day was written for England.
Shaheen came to bowl the 16th over and could only deliver one ball. The knee injury that he sustained while taking a sharp catch earlier in the match forced him out of the field.
When he was leaving the field with his head down and hands on his head, thousands of Pakistani spectators in the gallery looked bewildered. He got pats on his back in the dugout, but Shaheen knew what a chance he left behind for good.
He was never able to get back to the match, and Pakistan were never able to keep putting pressure on England with a comparatively low score on the board.
After Shaheen’s unfortunate departure from the final, Iftekhar Ahmed came to bowl the last five deliveries of the over Shaheen left behind. And Iftekhar conceded 13 runs off those five deliveries. Pakistan lost all control of the match from that point.
“Our bowling is one of the best but unfortunately Shaheen’s injury cost us a different result, but that’s part of the game,” Babar Azam, the Pakistan captain, said after the match.
Pakistan have gone through extraordinary ups and downs in this World Cup. They lost two close matches to arc-rival India and Zimbabwe. They were on the verge of elimination from the group stage of Super 12s.
But an unexpected win of the Netherlands over South Africa kept their way open to the semifinal. Pakistan only had to beat Bangladesh to book a semifinal spot, and Bangladesh failed to prevent them.
In the semifinal, they beat New Zealand who had been playing so well until their semifinal exit.
In all these ups and downs, Shaheen was the best bowler for them. He conceded 11 wickets in seven matches and conceded the least runs among the Pakistani bowlers in this World Cup. He also bowled at the second-lowest economy rate among the bowler who bagged at least 10 wickets in the event.
But when Pakistan needed him most, Shaheen was unable to deliver. In Pakistan’s exceptional run in the T20 World Cup 2022, Shaheen will be remembered as a tragic hero.
Source: United News of Bangladesh