Asia Cup 2022: Pakistan VS Afghanistan: A New rivalry in South Asia
Pakistan edged Afghanistan in a thrilling contest of the Super 4 Asia Cup 2022. Afghanistan lost, Pakistan won, and a new cricket rivalry was born as fans clashed in the stand
Rashid Khan and Afghanistan lost a thrillerEngland vs Australia, India vs Pakistan and now Pakistan vs Afghanistan, a few rivalries are visible as much off-field as on-field. The rivalry between Pakistan and Afghanistan has taken severe turns since Asia Cup 2018.
Witnessing since 2018, the two teams have clashed with each other in four mega-events: Asia Cup 2018, ODI World Cup 2019, T20I World Cup 2021 and Asia Cup 2022. And in all four events, Pakistan has emerged on top while chasing the target and defeating Afghanistan with a few balls to spare.
In Asia Cup 2018, Pakistan won with three balls to spare, ODI World Cup 2019, Pakistan won with two balls to spare, T20I World Cup 2021, Pakistan won with six balls to spare, and yesterday in Asia Cup 2022, Pakistan again won with four balls to spare.
Afghanistan always gave a tough fight but never succeeded in registering a win to their name.
The heated altercation between Asif Ali and Fareed Ahmad in second last over
As the match between the two teams got spiced up, the drama intensified when Pakistan batter Asif Ali got into a spat with bowler Fareed Ahmad in the second last over. With 12 runs needed from 8 balls, Fareed Ahmad trapped the batter for a top-edge on the fifth ball above by bowling a slow short-ball taken safely by Karim Janat.
After the dismissal and filled with emotions, the bowler celebrated exaggeratedly in front of the departing batter as he was smashed for a massive six on prior delivery. As Ahmad walked, uttering a few words, Asif Ali didn’t like it and turned to almost hit the pacer with his bat getting a hold of his nerve.
This didn’t go well with former Afghanistan players and board members. Witnessing this, former skipper Gulbadin Naib tweeted, “This is stupidity at an extreme level by Asif Ali and should be banned from the rest of the tournament; any bowler has the right to celebrate but being physical is not acceptable at all.″
However, Shoaib Akhtar termed the representation of the entire episode as unfair and one-sided. He subtly highlighted that it was Malik’s fault for starting the argument in the first place.
Hopefully, we will get to see many such moments of rivalries between the two teams in future.