Shoaib Akthar praises Pakistan team

Pakistani speedster Shoaib Akthar has lauded Pakistan team for a great comeback in the Twenty20 World Cup game against South Africa saying he hoped the Green-shirts qualify for the semifinals.

Pakistan downed South Africa by 33-runs in a rain-reduced Super 12 match on Thursday keeping hopes alive for reaching the World Cup semis.

“What a great comeback from Pakistan team! Well done, I wish Pakistan qualifies for the semifinals,” he said in a video on is YouTube channel.

The Rawalpindi Express praised Shadab Khan (52 off 22 balls) and Iftikhar Ahmed (51 off 35 balls) for their top performances in the game. “Well done Shadab and Iftikhar, you have proven many people wrong by your performance. You did an amazing job,” he said.

Akthar said Pakistan played wonderful against South Africans. “It was a good batting wicket but I was surprised to see South Africans dropping so many catches,” he said.

He was of the view that whenever Pakistan team was down in any tournament, they comeback with a boom. “I never give up on Pakistan as we are a nation having a lot of resilience. We will make a comeback in this World Cup. I hope we don’t get out from the first round,” he said.

“Pakistan will have a problem in the run-rate but let’s hope for the best. We should have scored quick runs against the Netherlands and must have sent Fakhar Zaman up in the order.”

Akthar said Pakistan needs to stay in this World Cup to take revenge from India. However the former pacer feels it’s not the time to talk about it but Pakistan took two unfit players for the world cup Fakhar and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Mohammad Haris was approved as a replacement for Fakhar Zaman in the Pakistan squad who was ruled out after sustaining a posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) injury to his right knee.