In the 22nd match of the ODI World Cup 2023, Pakistan took on Afghanistan at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium. Pakistan won the toss and chose to begin their innings with the bat. As the opening batsmen navigated the powerplay phase, Abdullah Shafique made a notable move by hitting a six off a delivery from Mujeeb Ur Rahman, launching the ball over long off. This particular six marked Pakistan’s first powerplay boundary after a significant drought of 1168 balls.
In their previous ODI World Cup 2023 match against Australia at the compact Bengaluru stadium, Pakistan struggled to hit sixes, especially in comparison to the Australian batsmen. They faced challenges in clearing the boundaries and notably failed to hit a single six during the powerplay overs while chasing a target of 368 runs.
Leading up to the match against Afghanistan on Monday, Pakistani opener Imam Ul Haq made a unique comment about the lack of sixes, humorously suggesting that they needed to alter their diet for more protein, rather than carbs, to start hitting more sixes. Following his comment, Pakistani fans on social media criticized and made fun of him.
Pakistan needs to win all the games from here on
Pakistan faces a significant concern in the form of their notably poor net run rate, which took a hit and dropped to -0.456 after the latest match. Despite their commendable effort with the bat, where they managed to surpass the 300-run mark, they still fell short by a considerable margin. However, Pakistan can remain optimistic as the race for the third and fourth positions in the standings remains highly competitive.
Given that no team, except for the top two, has accumulated more points than them, it is likely that a team will need six victories (equivalent to 12 points) to secure a spot in the semi-finals unless weather disruptions impact the tournament. The 1992 champions still have an opportunity to reach this target if they manage to win four out of their remaining five matches.
Pakistan’s upcoming fixtures include matches against Afghanistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, New Zealand, and England. While these fixtures are not straightforward, Babar Azam’s team is confident about securing four victories. Wins against South Africa and England could significantly influence the knockout prospects of their rivals.
Let us look at how Twitter has reacted to this achievement from Pakistan Cricket team;
Oh my God Pakistan and Abdullah Shafique hit a six in power play. Unbelievable.
It's a world record for Pakistan. #AFGvsPAK #PAKvsAFG— Satya Prakash (@Satya_Prakash08) October 23, 2023
ABD of Pakistan smashed that Six pic.twitter.com/dkfbGTwk4e
— Tanveer Hassan (@tanveercric56_) October 23, 2023
History by Pakistan on @TukTuk_Academy home ground ??
— Dinda Academy (@academy_dinda) October 23, 2023
History
— Kirkett (@bhaskar_sanu08) October 23, 2023
unreal achivement
— Farquaad (@heyy_zeesh) October 23, 2023
Congratulations Pakistan ?
— Tasneem Hanif ?? (@TasneemKhatai) October 23, 2023
Unbelievable thing for me
— CricXtra (@CricXtra_) October 23, 2023
Ye toh breaking news hai
— Shubham Shrivastav (@shubhshr28) October 23, 2023
