Even after his side’s amazing win over Pakistan in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in Chennai, star Afghanistan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq has no plans to reconsider his decision on ODI retirement. Afghanistan’s first victory over the Men in Green in eight attempts.
Naveen had expressed his intention to withdraw from the 50-over format following the conclusion of the ODI World Cup in order to focus on his T20 career. The pacemaker, on the other hand, has stated that his choice is definite and that he would not change it. The 24-year-old stated that he will remember Afghanistan’s historic victory over two giants, England and Pakistan, for the rest of his life.
“No, no, no. Not at all. That’s the final decision I’ve made. Luckily, I will remember this World Cup for the rest of my life – beating Pakistan and beating England. I’m hoping for the best in the upcoming games,” Naveen was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
He went on to express his happiness to make the country proud with the team’s victory. “It does mean a lot to the people of our country back home. As you know, the situation back home. The earthquake also hit [in Herat] a few days ago. So, there’s not a lot of happiness in the country without cricket. So, at least by beating pakistan we’ve given them some moments of happiness tonight,” he added.
Afghanistan defeated Pakistan by an eight-wicket margin in the ODI World Cup.
In terms of the game, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first. Pakistan scored 282 runs in allotted overs, led by 50s from Abdullah Shafique and Babar Azam. Noor Ahmad was Afghanistan’s first-choice bowler, taking three wickets in his entire quota. Naveen-ul-Haq took two key wickets, while Mohammad Nabi and Azmatullah Omarzai each took one.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadram put on a good first-innings partnership of 130 runs. after that Rahmat Shah and captain Hashmatullah Shahidi put on a 94-run stand to enable Afghanistan chase the target given by pakistan with one over and eight wickets to spare.
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