One catch at the long off and the injury that followed was the tipping point that shattered the dreams of crores of Pakistani fans to see their team lift the coveted T20 World Cup for the second time.
Pakistan’s bowling was doing exceptionally well against the English batting and could have pulled it off as well had Shaheen Afridi remained to complete his spell. His knee injury returned to haunt Pakistan at the most crucial point in their T20 WC campaign.
Ben Stokes’s heroics yet again came to England’s rescue to win the world title for them and went on to become the first team in cricketing history to hold ODI and T20 World Cups together.
The heartbroken Pakistani fans are overwhelmed in sharing their thoughts on the crucial encounter between their team and the champion England and the moment of Shaheen Shah Afridi’s injury that could have possibly taken their World Cup hopes away.
Here are some of the tweets by Pakistani fans:
Shaheen Afridi ❤️ deserves a lot of respect. Our boy was playing with injury and managed to win us matches and put pressure.
— Ali Aslam Gondal 👁️🗨️ (@aliaslamgondal) November 13, 2022
Well done lad ❤️💕🇵🇰
Proud of PCT 🇵🇰#T20Iworldcup2022 #pakistancricketteam #shaheenafridi #babarazam #Final #EngvsPak pic.twitter.com/7JjWtTgqS9
Shaheen Afridi tried to play despite his injury & cried when he couldn't, and the crowd giving him a standing ovation for his efforts anyway🥺#T20WorldCupFinal
— Wania Ahmed (@waniaahmeds) November 13, 2022
The emotion on Shaheen Afridi’s face on having to walk off the ground due to injury suggests what a good team man he is , in addition to being the best left arm bowler in the . Pakistan are lucky to have a young player like him . Am sure there will be more in the future
— Koottalai Srinivasan (@kssrini1964) November 13, 2022
Injury to Shaheen Afridi not just HURT him but the whole of PAKISTAN #EngvsPak #BabarAzam𓃵 #WorldCup2022 #ShaheenShahAfridi pic.twitter.com/fDy5fRr7AP
— Chandu Vlogs (@Chandurdy1) November 13, 2022
Don't go into a tournament with an half fit player #afridi
— Amit (@nottheamit) November 13, 2022
Sam Curran was adjudged the Man-of-the-Match for his stunning 3 wickets in the spell and went to lift the recognition of Player of the tournament for his staggering performance all throughout the campaign taking 13 wickets.
However, England’s big match hero Ben Stokes stitched the chase with a stable and patient innings scoring 50 to ensure he makes for his side, accompanied by Harry Brooks and later Moeen Ali towards the end.