Former India allrounder Irfan Pathan has said Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi deserved the Player of the Match award in their game against Bangladesh at the World Cup 2023.
“Playing against Bangladesh who is down and out in their confidence, Pakistan needed to play aggressively. They did that very well. Shaheen should have been awarded Man of the Match,” Pathan posted on X.
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Pakistan took on Bangladesh in what was their seventh World Cup fixture.
They put on a dominant show against their Asian counterparts, winning the match by seven wickets.
Shaheen picked three crucial wickets in the match while Fakhar Zaman, who received the player of the match award, smashed 81 runs in the chase.
Playing against Bangladesh who is down and out in their confidence, Pakistan needed to play aggressive. They did that very well. Shaheen should have been awarded Man of the match. #PAKvBAN— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) October 31, 2023
At the iconic Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata, having won the toss, Bangladesh decided to bat first.
Shaheen made an early impact on the game for Pakistan as he sent Tanzid Hasan packing for a duck in the first over of the innings. He scalped Najmul Hossain Shanto in the third over.
Haris Rauf then got rid of Mushfiqur Rahim for five runs.
It was Litton Das and Mamudullah, who then anchored the innings for Bangladesh before skipper Shakib Al Hasan added another 43 runs for his side.
This helped Bangladesh reach a total of 204 in 45.1 overs.
While chasing, Abdullah Shafique and Fakhar Zaman stitched a partnership of 128 runs to give Pakistan a superb start.
Fakhar smashed three boundaries and seven sixes in the game, before being dismissed by Mehidy Hasan. Next, Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed hit 26 and 17 runs respectively to win the match by seven wickets.
Shaheen, who became the top-ranked ODI bowler on Wednesday, has been a stellar performer at the World Cup.
In the ongoing World Cup, Shaheen has 16 wickets at an average of 19.94.
Meanwhile, Fakhar hasn’t featured in the majority of the games for Pakistan at the World Cup. His 81-run tally against Bangladesh was his best performance for the Asian Giants at the tournament.
Pakistan’s dominant showing against Bangladesh hinted at what the team is capable of. They will be facing a fiery New Zealand next at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on November 4.
A win will significantly boost their chances of making the knockout phase of the competition.
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