Afghanistan achieved a historic night on Monday when they defeated Pakistan in the men’s ODIs for the first time ever. The cherry on top was that they now had two victories in the 2023 World Cup. Pakistan reached a score of 282/7 thanks to captain Babar Azam’s 74 off 92 balls. After that, Afghanistan mounted a brilliant chase, aided by some clumsy fielding from the Pakistan players, and won the match by an impressive eight wickets with one over remaining. Read on to see the viral video of Rashid Khan and Irfan Pathan.
On paper, Afghanistan was the obvious underdog, but they had proven throughout their prior games that they were a formidable opponent—most notably, earlier this month, when they defeated the reigning champions, England, by 69 runs. They demonstrated against Pakistan that, given another chance, their hitters can pose a threat on par with their elite group of spinners, and the Pakistani fielders were giving them plenty of those with some hilarious misfields.
Afghanistan’s players and staff stormed the field after captain Hashmatullah Shahidi hit the winning four-ball off the final ball of Afridi’s 49th over. After their initial celebrations, the players performed a lap of honour with the support of the Chepauk stadium crowd.
Rashid Khan and Irfan Pathan:
An Indian Muslim supporting an Afghan Muslim and whole of Hindu majoritarian Bharat cheering for them!❤️
Hindus don’t hate Muslims.
Understand the difference.
Irfan Pathan | Rashid Khan | Afghanistan | India | World Cup | Pakistan #RashidKhan #IrfanPathan pic.twitter.com/PBndhyjkdh— GenZForce (@GenZForce) October 24, 2023
Star spinner Rashid Khan danced with former India fast bowler Irfan Pathan during that lap of honour. Pathan was on the field analyzing the game alongside the other members of the Star Sports crew. He departed from the show to partake in some bhangra with Rashid in what has since gone viral on social media.
Afghanistan’s spinners, especially Rashid Khan and Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, are usually viewed as their greatest threat, but on Monday in Chennai, their batting prowess was evident. Chasing 283, openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran set the tone for their team’s successful beginning. Afghanistan had already scored 130 runs when the opening stand was finally broken in the 22nd over. Rahmanullah Gurbaz was dismissed by Shaheen Afridi for 65 off 53 balls to give Pakistan the advantage, but this did not cause the Afghans to crumble.
Following Rahmat Shah’s arrival, Zadran maintained his momentum and came close to reaching a century before losing his wicket to Hasan Ali in the 34th over, following an innings of 87 runs off 113 balls. After that, Rahmat (77*) and captain Hashmatullah Shahidi (48*) forged a solid alliance as they pounded out the game-winning four.
So, this was all about the dance video of Rashid Khan and Irfan Pathan. Also read, ‘No one is inspiring’ – Shoaib Akhtar on Pak cricket team.
