DUBLIN: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi presented special jerseys to white-ball captain Babar Azam and pace bowler Shaheen Afridi for their recent achievements here on Sunday.
Both players received the jerseys after Pakistan’s crushing seven-wicket victory over Ireland in the second T20I to level the three-match series 1-1.
PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi presented special jerseys to @babarazam258 and @iShaheenAfridi to celebrate their recent achievements.
Babar achieved the most wins as a T20I captain, while Shaheen completed his 300 international wickets during the second T20I.#IREvPAK |… pic.twitter.com/6pphKVVD8B
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) May 12, 2024
With the victory over Ireland, Babar Azam became the most successful captain in T20I history with 45 wins, surpassing Uganda’s Brian Masaba (44). Azam has led Pakistan in 78 matches since assuming the role in 2019.
Meanwhile, Shaheen Afridi achieved the significant milestone of taking 300 wickets in international cricket. Ireland captain Paul Stirling became his 300th wicket during the second T20I.
The 24-year-old is also the fifth youngest bowler to achieve the milestone.
He has represented Pakistan in 145 matches across formats since making his international debut in 2018. He took 113 wickets in Test cricket, 104 in ODI and 84 in T20I.
Notably, Pakistan opted to bowl first in the second T20I and Afridi removed both openers in the fourth over to reduce Ireland to 34-2.
However, Lorcan Tucker played brilliant innings of 51 runs from 34 balls, featuring five boundaries and two sixes, while Gareth Delany scored a quick 28 off 10 to propel Ireland to 193 in their allocated 20 overs.
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Pakistan successfully chased the 194-run target with 19 balls to spare, courtesy of Mohammad Rizwan and Fakkhar Zaman’s half-centuries.
They constructed a 140-run partnership in 78 balls to tilt the game in Pakistan’s favour after Saim Ayub (6) and Babar Azam (0) fell early.
Rizwan scored an unbeaten 75 off 46, featuring six boundaries and four sixes, while Zaman was dismissed after scoring 78 runs from 40 balls.
Azam Khan was another notable contributor with an unbeaten 30 off 10 with four sixes. He hit Mark Adair for three sixes in the 17th over to finish the match in style.
The third and decisive T20I between Pakistan and Ireland will be played on 14 May (tomorrow).
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