A poor incident caught the limelight during the Eliminator 2 of Pakistan Super League between Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United on Saturday. At the game at National Stadium in Karachi, a section of fans taunted United all-rounder Imad Wasim with "Babar Babar" chants. The video of the incident went viral on social media with Islamabad United captain Shadab Khan also commenting on the issue after the game. Shadab was quite vocal to say that acts like those do hurt the players.
"Obviously dukh hota hai. Itne lambe arse ke liye Pakistan ke liye khelna, performance karna. Aisi cheezein jo hamaara crowd hai woh aisi cheezein kar raha tha. Aapko feel hota hai 'Maine isi mulk ke liye khela hai aur isi mulk ke liye matches jeetayein hain, aur hamaare log aisa treat kar rahe hain' so woh thoda feel hota hai. (It's obviously saddening to see. To play and perform for Pakistan for such a long time. And then to see the crowd doing this to such player. As a player you feel like, 'I've played for this country, I've won matches for this country, and the people of our country treat us like this,' so it does feel a bit)," said Shadab.
Notably, Imad had earlier criticized Babar during the Cricket World Cup 2023, where Pakistan produced a poor show. The fans on Saturday taunted him with "Babar Babar" chants because of the remark he had passed.
Talking about the game, Islamabad United made their way into the final with a five-wicket win over Peshawar Zalmi with Imad playing a crucial role in the victory.
Islamabad United captain Shadab won the toss and invited the opponent team to bat first. Led by Saim Ayub's 73 and Mohammad Haris' 40, Peshawar Zalmi posted 185 for 5 in the stipulated 20 overs. Imad could not get any wicket but bowled an economical spell of 0/23 in four overs.
In reply, Islamabad got home in 19 overs, thanks to Imad's 59 not out off 40 balls and Haider Ali's 52 not out off 29.
Islamabad United will face Multan Sultans in the final of PSL 2024 on March 18 at the National Stadium, Karachi.