Pakistani fast bowler Naseem Shah opened up on the heartbreak and agony the men in Green had to go through after the team's loss against India in the T20 World Cup 2024. Babar Azam and Co were subjected to constant scrutiny and criticism after an abysmal performance in the group stage of the tournament against Rohit Sharma led India in New York, failing to chase 120 runs at the Nassau County Stadium. Despite dominating the low-scoring thriller for 35 of the 40 overs, bottled the game in the penultimate over losing the game by six runs. Shah‘s individual performance was the silver lining for him as he registered the best figures for the team with 3-21 taking the priced wicket of Virat Kohli for Pakistan. He even hit two fours, the joint-most in the innings when the team needed 16 runs off 3 balls in the deciding over bowled by Arshdeep Singh.
"There are a lot of emotions attached to such matches. I did not expect [the result to turn out how it did]. There are some things that you keep to yourself. A lot had pent-up and a lot of things flashed in front of me at that point... There have been very few moments in life when I have felt the need to have someone who can talk positively to me," Naseem said on Cricbuzz.
Talking about the criticism the team faced after the loss he said "Though I was not being targeted by the fans or the media, one cannot be satisfied and say I did my bit after your team loses. I am a person who wants to win. I get disappointed even when I lose while playing at home or in my street. I play to win and the World Cup exit pained me a lot”
ALSO READ: Unsold in IPL 2024 auction, former Rajasthan Royals batter smashes 9 sixes in unbeaten 124 in Maharaja T20 Trophy
ALSO READ: Batter from 77th ranked T20I side smashes 39 runs in an over to break Yuvraj Singh's record; watch video
"People come up to me in restaurants and ask me why we lost. Even my relatives have asked about it. I understand their sentiments are driven by the social media and, as a player, all I can do is listen to them. There are times when you feel that you cannot put up with it anymore. But, it also burns a desire for a comeback. People had many questions to ask and there was a lot of frustration in them, which is understandable. Now, we have an opportunity to win the hearts again by playing good cricket," he added.
Naseem all set for the Bangladesh series
The 21-year-old will return to cricketing action in the two-match Test series against Bangladesh starting from August 21st. The series will kick off in Rawalpindi while the second match will also be played on the same stadium. Pakistan has released its mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed for the first Test.
Pakistan's Playing XI against Bangladesh
Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood (C), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel (VC), Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali
MORE ON SPORTS TAK
