Babar Azam's Pakistan exacted revenge for their Group stage loss by defeating arch-rivals India by five wickets in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup 2022 on August 4 (Sunday). Wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan's sparkling knock powered Pakistan to a scintillating victory as more than a billion Indians were left dejected after the Men in Blue's loss.
After the Men in Green registered an emphatic win, their national team's former captain Mohammad Hafeez took a jibe at veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who is part of India's Asia Cup squad but hasn't played even a single game in the competition so far. In the last game, Rohit Sharma and the team management opted to include Ravi Bishnoi as the second spinner.
Reacting to the non-inclusion of Ashwin in India's playing XI against Pakistan, Hafeez came up with a bizarre explanation while citing an example of what transpired eight years ago in the same competition.
"I would like to thank Shahid Afridi for what he did 2014 Asia Cup. The way you smashed two back-to-back sixes on him (Ashwin), I think it is the impact of that only," said Hafeez in a video posted on his Twitter.
Hafeez recalled one of those matches where the Men in Green managed to emerge triumphant against India, and it happened during the 2014 edition of the Asia Cup.
On the back of three half-centurions, India posted 245/8 on the board. Pakistan kept losing wickets at regular intervals but their batters were still scoring runs. The match went down to the last over with India needing two wickets to win and Pakistan 10 runs away from a memorable victory.
Ravichandran Ashwin started the final over in the best possible style by dismissing Saeed Ajmal on the first ball. Junaid Khan, who came out to bat next, found a way to get to the non-striker's end. With nine runs needed off four balls, the stage was set for Shahid Afridi's power-hitting and he didn't disappoint his fans. The right-handed batter smoked the next two balls into the stands and ensured a remarkable one-wicket win for the Men in Green in Mirpur.
