"Greatest Sporting Event": Shahid Afridi On India-Pakistan Matches

India and Pakistan played out a last-over thriller in the ongoing Asia Cup on Sunday and it was Babar Azam's side had prevailed in the contest by five wickets. Chasing 182, Pakistan held their nerve and they sealed the victory on the penultimate delivery of the match. Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi congratulated Babar Azam and co on winning the match and he also termed the matches between India and Pakistan as "greatest sporting event".

"Outstanding win!! Great contributions by Rizwan, Nawaz and finishing by Asif. India-Pakistan cricket once again at it's absolute best. The greatest sporting event in the world," Afridi tweeted.

Outstanding win!! Great contributions by Rizwan, Nawaz and finishing by Asif. India-Pakistan cricket once again at it's absolute best. The greatest sporting event in the world.🇵🇰 https://t.co/nrQ1JoESKw

— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) September 4, 2022

Now India must win their matches against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan if they want to make it to the final. 

Arshdeep Singh had dropped a relatively easy chance in the 18th over and then came on to bowl the final over, but he was not able to defend seven runs, and in the end, Pakistan walked away with a victory. 

Speaking at the post-match press conference, India batter Virat Kohli also showed his support for Arshdeep, saying: "Anyone can commit the mistake, the situation was tight. It was a high-pressure game and mistakes can happen. I still remember I was playing my first Champions Trophy and the match was against Pakistan, I had played a very bad shot against Shahid Afridi. I was watching the ceiling till 5 am, I was not able to sleep and I thought my career is over but these things are natural. Seniors players get around you, there is a good team environment right now, I give the credit to the captain and coach. The players learn from their mistakes. So one must accept his mistake, address it and look forward to being in that pressure situation once again."

Talking about the match between India and Pakistan, the former was sent into bat and the side posted 181/7 in 20 overs. Virat Kohli top-scored with a knock of 60 off 44 balls.

Chasing 182, wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan top-scored for Pakistan as he played a knock of 71 of 51 balls. However, the impact innings came from Mohammad Nawaz who went out to bat at No.4 and the left-hander went on to score 42 runs off 20 balls.

For India, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep Singh scalped one wicket each.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Pakistan Cricket Team Shahid Afridi Mohammad Nawaz Virat Kohli Arshdeep Singh Asia Cup, 2022 Cricket