World Cup 2023: Shaheen should have been awarded Man of the Match – Irfan Pathan after Fakhar Zaman wins MOTM

As they say, it’s a batsman’s game. Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan was not happy with the jury after Fakhar Zaman was awarded Player of the Match for scoring 81 runs off just 74 balls against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Tuesday.

Pathan reckons Shaheen Shah Afridi should have been awarded Player of the Match for his impressive bowling performance. The lanky pacer was right on the money from the get-go as he dismissed Tanzid Hasan for naught in the first over of the innings after Shakib Al Hasan decided to bat first.

Afridi then had Najmul Hossain Shanto caught at short mid-wicket and also cleaned up in-form Mahmudullah, who top-scored with 56. Pakistan’s pack leader returned with impressive figures of 3-23 in the nine overs he bowled and played an instrumental role in skittling out Bangladesh at 204 runs.

On the other hand, Zaman made a return to the playing XI and added 128 runs for the opening alliance with Abdullah Shafique, who scored 68 runs. Zaman was able to time the ball to perfection and took the attack against the Bangladesh bowlers.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter) after the match ended, Irfan Pathan wrote: “Playing against Bangladesh who is down and out in their confidence, Pakistan needed to play aggressive. They did that very well. Shaheen should have been awarded Man of the match.”

Meanwhile, Shaheen Shah Afridi is the joint-highest wicket-taker with 16 wickets along with Adam Zampa in seven matches at an average of 19.94 in the ongoing World Cup and he has been Pakistan’s best bowler in the tournament.

With this thumping win, Pakistan was able to keep their semifinal hopes alive whereas Bangladesh have been knocked out of the last four race.

Pakistan will next take on New Zealand at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Saturday.