Against Afghanistan in a nail-biting thriller in Abu Dhabi on Friday, Shoaib Malik brought in all his experience while chasing a tricky target of 258 runs. As wickets kept tumbling at the other end, Malik, during his unbeaten 51-run knock, kept his composure. Lauding Malik’s gritty knock, former Pakistan fast bowler Wasim Akram compared his approach to the game with one of the best finishers of the game, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
“Experience has no substitute… Shoaib Malik proved it against a spirited Afghanistan .Did a Dhoni like finish … when Malik faced a bowler, he had no expression on his face and that frustrates a bowler because he doesn’t know what to expect… wonderful knock @realshoaibmalik,” Akram wrote on his Twitter handle.
Chasing a target of 258 in the Super Four encounter against Afghanistan, Pakistan got off to an awful start, losing opener Fakhar Zaman in the first over. After Zaman’s wicket, Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam stitched a crucial 154-run partnership for the third wicket. But Afghanistan bowlers bounced back strongly and picked wickets at regular intervals after the mammoth partnership between Imam and Babar.
As wicket kept tumbling at the other end, Malik stayed solid throughout his innings and took Pakistan across the line in the final over.
