KARACHI:
Pakistan cricket team’s embarrassing defeat to Zimbabwe during the group stage of the ICC T20 World Cup completely quashed our hopes of making it into the semi-final. Despite this, the team did not give up and put their best foot forward in the next few matches.
Despite facing severe criticism earlier, our opening batsmen, Babar Azam and Muhammad Rizwan demonstrated sheer resilience and hard work in the crucial semi-final. Both the batsmen individually scored a fifty proving their mettle and became the first-ever duo to have three-century stands in the history of the T20 world cup. Their strong performances uplifted the confidence and morale of the rest of the team as well. Our bowling department is also in safe hands with the likes of our pace battery and handy all-rounders. If we talk about individual brilliance, it would be worth mentioning Shadab Khan’s tireless efforts and significant contributions with both the ball and the bat as he can produce important breakthroughs whenever the team is in desperate need. Meanwhile, Haris Rauf is another great addition to the list of death-bowling specialists who can deceive the batsman with his raw pace and slower deliveries. The addition of the young Mohammad Haris has boosted our batting line-up as he is ready to fire irrespective of the bowlers he is up against.
Let’s all pray that the team brings back the smiles and joy of our nation, which is riddled with myriads of problems and challenges. A triumph at such a mega level will surely serve as a huge relief for our people. Wishing the best of luck to the men in green for the final encounter.
Muhammad Omer Khanzada
Islamabad
Published in The Express Tribune, November 11th, 2022.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
