Pakistan registered their first win at the 2022 T20 World Cup on Sunday when the side defeated Netherlands by six wickets in Perth. After restricting the Dutch side to a lowly score of 91/9 in 20 overs, Pakistan chased down the target in 13.5 overs, losing four wickets. Mohammad Rizwan made a much-needed return to run-scoring with 49 off 39 deliveries, while Shadab Khan was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets; he registered figures of 3/22 in four overs.
The side’s captain Babar Azam, however, continued to endure poor form, as he was dismissed for 4 off five deliveries. Babar was run out in the second over of the match; in the past three matches of the World Cup, the Pakistan captain has registered scores of 0, 4, and 4.
Babar has received significant support from Pakistan fans amid his string of low scores. Interestingly, a few months ago, when India’s former skipper Virat Kohli had gone through a similarly low patch of run-scoring in his international career, Babar had put out a heartwarming tweet in support of the batter. The Pakistan skipper had written, “This too shall pass. Stay strong,” on his official Twitter profile.
On Sunday, following Babar’s another single-digit score in the T20 World Cup, India spinner Amit Mishra put out an exactly similar tweet for the Pakistan skipper.
On Pakistan’s Samaa TV, the anchor had a rather strong reaction to Amit Mishra’s tweet, as he stated that while Babar showed big heart, ‘a player named Amit Mishra is making fun of it’.
Shahid Afridi, who was part of the show, responded, “Ye jo aap naam le rahe hain Amit Mishra, ye bhi India se khela hua hai. Ye spinner tha ki batsman tha? (This name you’re taking, Amit Mishra, he has also played for India. Was he a spinner or a batsman?)”
After being told he was a spinner, Afridi said, “Koi baat nahi. Chalein aage. This too shall pass. (Don’t worry. Let’s move on).”
