Pakistan vs Afghanistan: 'This hurts us' — Babar Azam and Hashmatullah Shahidi react to PAK's loss to AFG

Pakistan captain Babar Azam blamed his team’s batting and fielding after the Men in Green suffered their first-ever ODI defeat to Afghanistan on Monday. In the World Cup 2023 match played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, Afghanistan registered another upset with a clinical eight-wicket win over their bitter rivals Pakistan.

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Batting first, Babar led from the front with a knock of 74 as Pakistan scored 282/7 on a slow pitch. In reply, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (65) and Ibrahim Zadran (87) put up 130 together for the opening stand and Rahmat Shah (77) and Hashmatullah Shahidi (48) stayed unbeaten to guide the Afghans Atalans to one of their most famous victories.

Pakistan now stare at elimination from the World Cup after the latest setback. They have only won two out of five matches so far. Skipper Babar said that the team was hurting after the defeat.

“This hurts us,” Babar said. “We had a good total. In the bowling, we aren’t up to the mark because we are not taking wickets in the middle overs. In the World Cup, if you are not good in even one department, then you’ll lose the match.

“In the field, we didn’t stop boundaries and gave away runs, that cost us. Bowling – we started well, in the middle overs, we needed wickets but we couldn’t take any wickets. All credit to Afghanistan the way they played in all three departments. That’s why they won. We are not playing good cricket in bowling and fielding. We’ll try our best in the next match. We didn’t hit the lengths in the middle overs, especially our spinners. We couldn’t put pressure on the batters.”

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Afghanistan skipper Shahidi praised his players for the historic win and added that his team will look to repeat this performance in the upcoming matches of the World Cup.

“This win tastes nice. The way we chased was very professional. Looking forward for the other games. The way we chased today, we’ll do it again. The quality cricket that we have been playing from the last couple of years, the belief was there when we were playing the Asia Cup also. At the start of the tournament, I said that we want to make this tournament historic for our country people,” Shahidi said.

“First was England, today Pakistan, looking forward for the other games. We’ll try our best to play positive cricket and do a lot for our country in this World Cup. The spin bowling department did very well. We gave a chance to Noor and trusted in him, he showed his talent. The way Gurbaz and Ibrahim started the innings, they gave that momentum and confidence. The game was in our hand from the beginning till the end. The last partnership that me and Rahmat played was also good.”

This was the second big win of the World Cup for Afghanistan after they defeated defending champions England. They next play Sri Lanka on 30 October.