The spirit of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) has been tarnished by a recent incident that occurred during the Eliminator 2 between Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United at the National Bank Cricket Stadium in Karachi. ‘Babar, Babar’ chants from the crowd were directed towards Imad Wasim, the all-round player for Islamabad United. Cricketer Shadab Khan, the captain of Islamabad United, voiced his worry about this kind of behaviour.
The chants were a response to Imad’s previous criticism of Pakistan captain Babar Azam following the team’s underwhelming performance at the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup. It appears that the fans were chanting Babar’s name in an attempt to respond to Imad’s comments.
One incident that was similar occurred at the Pindi Cricket Stadium during a match between Karachi Kings and Islamabad United. Imad was fielding near the boundary when he responded to the “Babar Babar” chants by raising his shirt in imitation of football legend Lionel Messi’s famous goal celebration.
Cricketer Shadab Khan gets candid:
Shadab Khan, the captain of Islamabad United, expressed his disappointment right away. He stated, “Needless to say, dukh hota hai. This performance is a testament to Pakistan’s resilience. We are obviously saddened by it. Aisi cheezein jo hamaara crowd hai woh aisi cheezein kar raha tha. Our goal is to perform well and win back games for Pakistan. And now we witness our audience acting in this manner at the location).”
Shadab highlighted the psychological toll that players experience. Shadab said, “As a player you feel like, ‘I’ve played for this country, I’ve won matches for this country, and the people of our country treat us like this, so it does feel a bit.’ Aapko feel hota hai Maine isi mulk ke liye khela hai aur isi mulk ke liye matches jeetayein hain, aur hamaare log aisa treat kar rahe hain’ so woh thoda feel hota hai.”
After winning the toss, Islamabad chose to field first. With Saim Ayub scoring 73 and Mohammad Haris scoring 40, Peshawar Zalmi managed to score 185/5 in the 20 overs that were allocated to them. Imad, on the other hand, was unable to take any wickets but bowled well, conceding 23 runs in his 4-over spell.
Islamabad responded by winning the match with one over remaining and five wickets in hand. Haider Ali’s 52 not out off 29 and the southpaw’s 59* off 40 were crucial to the win. On Monday, March 18, in Karachi, United will take on Multan Sultans in the PSL 2024 championship game.
So, this was all about the Pakistani Cricketer Shadab Khan. Also read, IPL 2024: Ashwin seeks tickets for kids, asks help from CSK
