Pakistan suffered a major batting collapse which led to a debilitating six-wicket loss against Afghanistan in their first T20I of the series in Sharjah on Friday, March 24. It was a complete batting performance by the Afghanis, who beat their rivals for the first time in international cricket under the leadership of Rashid Khan.
The 2022 T20 World Cup finalists went into the side with a second-string team of players who shone at the recently-concluded Pakistan Super League (PSL). Led by Shadab Khan, the team of usually powerful batters succumbed like a pack of cards.
After the match, Shadab was disappointed with the result but chose to give the youngsters the benefit of the doubt and is sure they will improve in the future. "Tactics-wise, we were fine. But sometimes this can happen due to youngsters being nervous. But they need to be given chances, they will come better. As professionals, we can't give excuses regarding conditions. We have to learn from the loss here.
He shared a couple of positives as well, especially two young bowlers Ihsanullah and Zaman Khan, who were making their international debuts. "Ihsan, Zaman's bowling was positive. Naseem and Imad's return was great too. We have given 100% and hopefully will do well in the next game.
In addition to these two bowlers, opener Saim Ayub and middle-order batter Tayyab Tahir were also handed their maiden caps and were two of the four Pakistani batters to reach double digits. Ayub scored 17 off 15 balls and Tahir reached 16 off 9 as the Mujeeb Ur Rahman-led bowling unit took the game to their opponents.
Naveen-ul-Haq was the only expensive bowler for Afghanistan, leaking 19 runs from his two overs. Mujeeb was the most economical as he conceded just nine runs from his quota of four overs. Farooqi and skipper Rashid were economical too as they conceded 13 and 15 runs respectively from their quota of four overs.
In the end, Pakistan could manage to post just 92 runs on the board for nine wickets, their fifth-lowest T20I total. In response, Ibrahim Zadran (9) lost his wicket early to debutant Ihsanullah, followed by Gulbadin Naib for a two-ball duck. Naseem joined the party with the wicket of Rahmanullah Gurbaz (16) as well to put pressure on Afghanistan.
But then, Mohammad Nabi and Najibullah Zadran got the run chase back on track as they cruised to the target. Nabi wrapped up the game in the 18th over with a six, with the all-rounder staying unbeaten with run-a-ball 38. At the other end, Zadran contributed with 17 runs from 23 deliveries.
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