June 11 (Punjab Khabarnama) : Yuvraj Singh and Shahid Afridi, the ambassadors of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, on Tuesday, revealed their conversation during the blockbuster match between India and Pakistan at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on June 9, where the Men in Blue won by six runs. Put to bat first, India suffered a collapse to set a 120-run target. Pakistan saw themselves cruising towards a win at 80 for three in 14 overs before a death-bowling masterclass from Jasprit Bumrah, and the pace unit saw the 2009 champions being restricted to just 113.
In the chase of 120, Mohammad Rizwan held one end of the crease with a valiant knock that left Pakistan just 40 runs away from a win in 36 balls. However, Bumrah removed Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed in a terrific spell and Pakistan never managed to recover from the blow. Amid lack of partnerships, the team succumbed to a six-run loss.
On Tuesday, Afridi’s team released a video on social media where Yuvraj is seen consoling the disgruntled former Pakistan captain, who seemed to be in disbelief at Babar Azam’s men losing the lot from a position of win. Afridi then revealed his conversation with the 2007 T20 World Cup winner saying that although Yuvraj congratulated him early during Pakistan’s chase, he remained skeptical of the team’s chances.
Here is how the conversation went…
Yuvraj: Lala, why are you sad? What happened?
Afridi: My being sad is right or wrong? Was this a match we (Pakistan) should have lost? When we were left to score 40 runs, Yuvraj told me ‘Lala, congratulations! I am leaving, won’t watch the rest of the game’. I told him ‘Yuvi, chaallis runs boht hain Iss pitch pe. Itni jaldi mubarakbad na de mujhe (40 runs are a lot on this pitch, don’t congratulate me so early).
Yuvraj: I told you Pakistan will win, but I was still confident that we (India) can win it from there. Winning and losing is part of the game, what’s important is that our bonhomie should continue.
Pakistan will play a do-or-die game against Canada on Tuesday in New York. They currently stand third in the Group A points table, behind USA, India and Canada.