In the last match of the Pakistan vs England series, the audience criticized Khushdil Shah.
In the crucial Twenty20 match on 2 October, England defeated the hosts by 67 runs to win the series 4–3, ending their first tour of Pakistan in 17 years. Once the effective opening combination of skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan left the field after just two overs, Pakistan were completely out of the competition.
The Pakistani captain described the defeat as painful and insisted that his team should do better in the shorter formats. The team’s humble series defeat as hosts, however, was not something that Pakistani fans were willing to ignore. The team was verbally attacked from the stands by enraged Pakistani supporters for the poor performance, and middle-order batsman Khushdil Shah was one of those targeted.
In an unpleasant social media video, angry stadium spectators can be heard shouting “parchi parchi” as batsman Shah returned to the pavilion after being dismissed in the match.
The term “parchi”, roughly translated as “receipt” in Urdu, is used to suggest that a player joined the team not on merit but on the basis of recommendations. The term is mostly used by Pakistanis living in or outside the country.
Shah scored only 63 runs in the entire series after being dismissed for 27 in the final game. Pakistan cricketer and Khushdil Shah’s partner Imam-ul-Haq jumped to the rescue and urged fans not to insult the cricketers representing their country.
“I would like to request my fans to refrain from making such rhetoric on any player as it can badly affect the health of the player and regardless of the outcome you try to support them as always. We play for you, we play for Pakistan, stay blessed,” he tweeted.
I would like to request my fans to refrain from such rhetoric on any player as it can badly affect the health of the player and regardless of the outcome, try to support them as always. we play for you we play for pakistan stay blessed
— imam ul haq (@imam ul haq12) 2 October 2022
England’s Malan smashed an unbeaten 47-ball 78 as Harry Brooke (46 not out) and Ben Duckett (30) backed him to take England to 209-3 in 20 overs. The visitors then restricted the home team to 142-8 and ended their first tour of Pakistan in 17 years with a series win. England won the first, third, sixth and seventh matches while Pakistan won the second, fourth and fifth matches. The result denied Pakistan their maiden T20I multi-game series win over England, who have won five while drawing the other two.
(with inputs from AFP)
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