Pakistani batter Ahmed Shehzad took a dig at the Pakistan cricket team after they lost to Ireland in the first T20I at the Clontarf Cricket Club, Dublin, on Friday.
Ireland managed to defeat Pakistan for the first time in T20Is as both teams only met once in the shorter format in T20 World Cup 2009 where the Green Shirts emerged victorious.
After Pakistan drew 2-2 in a five-match T20I series against New Zealand last month, Pakistan’s skipper Babar Azam stated that they were trying bench strength which is why they couldn’t win.
Shehzad took to his X, formerly Twitter, account where he took a dig at the team saying were they still testing bench strength tonight.
“I wanted to ask that were they [Pakistan] checking the bench strength even today?” Shehzad wrote on X. “Try your strength sometimes.”
Earlier today, Babar opened up after the match where he blamed bowling and fielding saying that the team couldn’t execute plans.
"We didn't start well in the first 6 overs; the pitch was a bit two-paced and had some bounce. We recovered well after that and got 182 but I think 190 was a par score," he said.
"But I think we lost due to the bowling and fielding. We didn't execute our plans and had some sloppy lapses in the field which cost us," he added.
Despite a brilliant start while defending the 183-run target as Pakistan managed to get two wickets in the first five overs with Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi striking for them, the Green Shirts couldn’t stand against Andrew Balbirnie and Harry Tector.
Pakistan got a major breakthrough when Shaheen removed Balbirnie but Gareth Delany (10 on 6) and Curtis Campher (15 on 7) cruised the home side to victory.
Batting first, Pakistan posted 182/6 as skipper Babar Azam starred with 57 off 43 balls while Saim Ayub made 29-ball 45. Iftikhar Ahmed chipped in with 15-ball 37*.
The Men in Green lost Mohammad Rizwan (1) early in the innings. Babar paired with Saim to provide stability to the innings with an 85-run stand.
Pakistan struggled for a bit where they lost four wickets for 31 runs but Iftikhar covered the runs at the backend.
He smoked 15-ball 37, powered by three fours and as many sixes. Shaheen Shah Afridi also remained unbeaten, scoring 13 runs from 7 deliveries, hitting two sixes, with a strike rate of 185.71.
- Ahmed Shehzad
