PAK vs ENG: Shaheen Afridi's Injury During The T20 World Cup Final Would Not Have Changed Pakistan's Outcome: Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar, a legendary batsman, predicted that even if Shaheen Shah Afridi had bowled his allotted four overs on Sunday, November 13 at the storied Melbourne Cricket Ground, Pakistan would have lost its T20 World Cup 2022 Final against England.

Shaheen suffered an injury and left the field while taking a catch to dismiss Harry Brook. During England’s run chase, he reappeared in the 16th over, but after bowling just one pitch to Liam Livingstone, he was forced to leave.

Stokes in the middle and Moeen Ali, the new batsman, were required to get 41 runs off of 30. For England, it did appear to be a possibility, but Haris Rauf and Shaheen still had two more overs to go. Furthermore, England appeared to be in trouble given the influence the Pakistani pacers had on the game.

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With a dot ball to begin his third over, Shaheen appeared to be in excruciating pain. When taking a catch to remove Harry Brook a few overs earlier, he had awkwardly landed on his knee. However, he returned for his final two overs after the physio had treated him.

Shaheen Afridi was unable to bowl another, though. As a result of his limping off the field, Babar was obliged to bring in Iftikhar Ahmed to finish the play.

With 41 runs needed off 29 balls, the Three Lions made a comeback and chased down 138 down with six balls to spare.

“Shaheen Afridi didn’t bowl would have made that much of a difference”: Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar claimed that Pakistan were 15-20 runs short of a perfect score at the MCG and that their bowlers didn’t have enough runs to perform with.

“I don’t think so, as they didn’t have enough runs on the board. They were around 15-20 runs short. Had they got to 150-155, they would have had a better chance and their bowlers would have had a bit of a cushion,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying in India Today.

“But I don’t think the 10 deliveries that Shaheen Afridi didn’t bowl would have made that much of a difference. Maybe Pakistan would have got another wicket, but England would still have won,” he added.

Ben Stokes and Sam Curran shone as England defeated Pakistan by five wickets to win the Twenty20 World Cup on Sunday and became the first team to win both the 50-over and 20-over titles in the history of the game.

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