Shadab Khan, Pakistan’s stand-in skipper and all-rounder, believes that his team’s series loss to Afghanistan will have a lot of positive effects. He also believes that the consistent efforts of experienced absentees Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan will be appreciated more when they return to the national setup.

At Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday, Afghanistan stunned Pakistan by winning for the second time and winning the three-match T20I series

A number of players with fewer experience and credentials were given a chance to shine in the absence of the ultra-reliable top-order pair, so Babar and Rizwan were rested for the three-game series against Afghanistan in Sharjah.

Afghanistan won their first series victory over their Asian rival with a thrilling seven-wicket victory over Pakistan on Sunday despite the results of the first two games not going according to plan.

Historic moment in Afghanistan cricket.

They have beaten Pakistan in a T20 series. pic.twitter.com/NCaDCq81gT

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) March 26, 2023

During Pakistan’s first two matches against Afghanistan, Babar and Rizwan’s usual stability early in the innings has been lacking, and Shadab believes that too many people take the performances of the experienced duo for granted.

“People criticise Babar and Rizwan regardless of whether they perform or not. There is always a sword hanging over them of strike rate. As a nation, we wanted youngsters to come in international cricket, as they were performing in PSL (Pakistan Super League), so we thought they would play with a better strike rate,”

Shadab said as quoted by ICC after the match.

“But finally, our nation will realise that experience matters and our seniors did not get the respect they deserved considering their performances. So after this series, they will get a lot more respect from the media and the nation,”

added Shadab.

In Sunday’s match, Pakistan made a meager 130/6 from 20 overs and lost three wickets in the first four overs. They were always on the back foot. Pakistan were able to reach this modest total thanks to the contributions of Shadab (32 off 25 balls with three fours) and Imad Wasim (64* off 57 balls with three fours and two sixes). After Pakistan was reduced to 63/5, the two of them put together a 67-run stand for the sixth wicket.

Afghanistan’s pick of the bowlers was Fazalhaq Farooqi (2/19). Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, and Naveen-ul-Haq each received one loss.

Shadab was left to wonder what might have been if his team had been able to post a slightly larger total as Afghanistan pursued that victory target with just one delivery remaining. Both Ibrahim Zadran (38 off 40 balls with three fours) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (44 off 49 balls with two fours and a six) made notable contributions for Afghanistan.

For Pakistan, Zaman Khan and Insanullah each took a wicket.

“When you lose three wickets in powerplay, you lose 70 per cent of the games…the young players were nervous. They are playing for the first time for Pakistan, but we have to back them. Our motive for this series was to check out talented young players and we have to back them in the future,”

concluded Shadab.

With Pakistan trailing by 2-0 in the series, the third and final Twenty20 International will be played in Sharjah on Monday. They had fallen six wickets short in the first match.