Ibrahim Zadran makes bold statement, dedicates his POTM award to Afghanistan people sent back from Pakistan

Afghanistan batter Ibrahim Zadran dedicated his Player of the Match award to Afghan refugees being deported from Pakistan after his team defeated the Babar Azam-led side in Chennai on Monday.

“I want to dedicate this Man of the Match to that people who were sent from Pakistan to back home Afghanistan,” said Zadran, who scored 87 off 113 deliveries as his team chased down 283 runs with eight wickets in hand.

This statement comes in the backdrop of nearly 1.7 million undocumented Afghan refugees being asked to leave Pakistan by November 1. Kabul has critcised this decision by Islamabad and termed it unacceptable.

Dear haters please note

Ibrahim Zadran the MoM has dedicated his award to Afghans who were persecuted and forcibly being sent back from Pakistan to Afghanistan !!!!#PAKvsAFG pic.twitter.com/EXxZySA5Ez

— Rishi Bagree (@rishibagree) October 23, 2023

As it happened

This was Afghanistan’s second upset win of the tournament after their shock victory over defending champions England. Earlier, opting to bat, Pakistan scored 282 for 7 with captain Babar Azam top-scoring with 74 off 92 deliveries.

Opener Abdullah Shafique contributed 58 while Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed made 40 each down the order. Noor Ahmad was the most successful Afghan bowler with figures of 3/49 while Naveen-ul-Haq chipped in with 2/52.

Pakistan, which won the toss and elected to bat, made 282-7 against a spin-heavy quartet with captain Babar Azam (74) and Abdullah Shafique (58) scoring half-centuries.

It was Pakistan’s first loss in an ODI against Afghanistan, which bettered its previous highest successful ODI chase of 274 made against the United Arab Emirates nine years ago.

A third successive pushed Pakistan into a must-win situation for a place in the semifinals with only four points from five matches. Afghanistan also kept its slim hopes alive with four points in as many games as moved into the No. 6 spot, behind Pakistan on net run rate, leaving England at the bottom of the table.