‘Ya Allah, drop ho jaye’: Faheem Ashraf credits divine intervention for Pakistan’s jailbreak vs Netherlands

Faheem Ashraf's heroics led Pakistan to win a thriller against the Netherlands: Pakistan won their opening game against the Netherlands by three wickets. The Men in Green face the Dutch in the opening game of the 2026 T20 World Cup at the Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo. They chased down the target of 148 with three balls left.

The Dutch, after being invited to bat first, started well, but they kept losing wickets in the middle overs, as the Pakistani bowlers were excellent, restricting their opponents to just 147. Coming out to chase the Men in Green had a good start with Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan scoring at a good pace. Pakistan faltered as soon as the latter fell after scoring 47.

Pakistan's batting collapse continues

Salman Ali Agha’s side were brought down from 98/3 to 114/7. The Dutch were eyeing yet another World Cup upset, with 29 required of the last two. However, Faheem Ashraf came in between the Dutch’s win and Pakistan’s loss. The game had a thrilling end as Faheem Ashraf took his chances in the 19th over against Logan van Beek.

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The Pakistani all-rounder smashed the Dutch pacer for 24 runs in the over. However, there was a nervy moment for Faheem Ashraf, in the second ball of the very over, he was dropped by Max O’Dowd at long on. After the match, while speaking on the post-match talk show, Faheem expressed his tension and was praying to God to please drop the catch.

Faheem Ashraf thanked God

Faheem Ashraf said, "We have been playing this brand of cricket for this past year. Heart rates go up and down, it's happened so many times before, we're used to it. Shaheen and I were talking about saving wickets, knew we could take down whatever in one over. When the ball is in the air, you just want the ball to land. Our efforts is to finish games as early as possible. But you have to hold your nerves in these situations."

Faheem Ashraf on his dropped catch: "My heart rate was ok because I've been in this position many times and it's not the first time I have been in this sort of situation. I just told myself to go out there and do what I know. Every part of my body was praying, ‘Ya Allah, drop ho jaye, Ya Allah, drop ho jaye,’ (Please God, Please God make the catch drop) then it happened."

Pakistan needs to work on the batting department

Pakistan might have just edged past in their first game. However, there are places where they need to work on, especially in their batting department, as they lost 5 wickets in the span of 16 runs.

They are scheduled to play against their arch-rivals India in the upcoming fixture; however, there are uncertainties revolving around this match that still loom after Pakistan government announced that they will boycott the match against their neighbours. All eyes are now on the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), as they are to have a meeting with their national government.

Also Read: 'T20 World Cup starts with upset’: Fans react as Pakistan snatch victory from jaws of defeat vs Netherlands