Afghanistan’s thumping victory over Pakistan in the ongoing World Cup tournament has created ripples across the world with people now acknowledging the progress made by the war-torn country.
Not just Pakistan, the Afghans also defeated the former world champion England in their earlier encounter which goes on to show that it’s not just an one-off upset but a concreted effort by a team that has really worked hard on their game.
Reacting to this famous win against Pakistan, Taliban lavished huge praise on the Afghanistan cricket team. Khalid Zardan, a Kabul Police spokesperson who is also connected with Taliban said, “Our cricket team has achieved a historic win. We won a match which many believed was impossible for us. This victory is a message to the people that we are progressing. Watch out for us but do not trouble us.”
The Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister’s Office of the Taliban government in Afghanistan has also congratulated the Afghanistan cricket team on their Twitter account.
The statement posted on the account reads, “The Afghanistan national cricket team has defeated Pakistan. Congratulations to the national cricket team, cricket board and all Afghan citizens on this victory.”
Following Afghanistan’s historic win against Pakistan, people came out in large numbers and also played music despite an effective ban on song and dance dictated by the Taliban government.
About this epic encounter, Afghanistan produced a superb batting and bowling display to chase down a target of 283 set by Pakistan, their highest successful chase in ODI cricket. It was also their first-ever victory over Pakistan in eight ODIs, and came just a week after their shock victory over defending champions England.
Afghanistan’s bowlers restricted Pakistan to 282 for seven in 50 overs, before their batsmen chased down the target with eight wickets and an over to spare. Ibrahim Zadran top-scored for Afghanistan with 87, while Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 65 and Rahmat Shah scored 55.
