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'They Could Have...' Mohammad Hafeez After Pakistan's 8-Wicket Loss Against Afghanistan

image-lo5pv4l1Pakistan team's coach Mickey Arthur and captain Babar Azam

We are halfway through the World Cup 2023, and Afghanistan are playing a great brand of cricket having defeated England and Pakistan from their first five games of the tournament. We may haven't witnessed a thriller yet, but we have seen the three biggest upsets in the history of cricket.

After Pakistan's defeat against Afghanistan, the former cricketers of Pakistan are criticising the team. On the other hand, Mohammad Hafeez, the former captain of Pakistan believes that this victory was long due and can not be called as an upset. 

Afghanistan got so close to the victories against Pakistan but could not turn those in their favour. Now, when they did, Hafeez said, they played brilliantly like a major team and this was long due considering how passionate they were on the field. 

Here's what Hafeez said after Pakistan's loss

"It was really exciting to see how Afghanistan handled the pressure when the scales were even. They could have won or they could have lost as well. And then the pressure of winning creeps into you."

While talking to PTV Sports, Hafeez praised the Afghanistan team for handling the pressure well among both teams. He also praised Rahmat Shah by talking about how he anchored his innings and stayed till the end to finish the chase. 

Hafeez mentioned that the way Afghanistan played is how the major teams play and they have shown where they going with these kinds of performances.

"You generally expect this from a big team but today they played like a major team. One should not think it was an upset. It was the most-awaited victory for them. Previously, they were chasing the win and we were lucky to have won on a couple of occasions. This is no fluke and you cannot call this victory an upset."

He also said that the Pakistan needs to look back and rectify things which have gone wrong for them in this tournament so far. 

"Pakistan should reflect and admit we are making mistakes. It is not that I am taking away any credit from Afghanistan. They played incredible cricket today. They played with passion and we could see that in their body language."