The catch of Harry Brook that Shaheen Afridi took turned out to be a double-edged sword. Pakistan got a wicket but Afridi injured his knee in the process ahead of the crucial slog overs when Babar Azam needed him the post. He could bowl just one ball in the 16th over and went off the field which had a major impact on the game. However, legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar believes that even having Afridi’s services in the slog overs would not have changed the outcome of the game.
“I don’t think so, as they didn’t have enough runs on the board. They were around 15-20 runs short. Had they got to 150-155, they would have had a better chance and their bowlers would have had a bit of a cushion,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying in India Today.
“But I don’t think the 10 deliveries that Shaheen didn’t bowl would have made that much of a difference. Maybe Pakistan would have got another wicket, but England would still have won,” he added.
As a dejected Afridi walked out of the field, Iftikhar Ahmed was given the ball to complete the over. England all-rounder Ben Stokes made up for the dot deliveries he faced and hit him for a four through covers followed by a six over long off to make the equation easy for his side.
“We were 20 runs short but the fight to the last over was unbelievable. Our bowling is one of the best, but unfortunately, Shaheen's injury cost us a different result, but that's part of the game,” Babar said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Afridi conceded 13 runs in 2.1 overs he bowled and took the wicket of in-form Alex Hales with a booming inswinger in the first over which reminded many of Indian opener KL Rahul's dismissal in T20 World Cup 2021.
In the end, Pakistan lacked the firepower with Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah completing their quota of four overs. Also, Babar did not use the services of left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz as two left-handed batters Stokes and Moeen Ali were operating in the middle.
