Pakistan captain Babar Azam was all reward for comeback man Fakhar Zaman, saying that the opener played a “natural game” in opposition to Bangladesh of their 2023 World Cup match in Kolkata on Tuesday.

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Fakhar, who had missed 5 of Pakistan’s six matches previous to this as a consequence of a knee damage, introduced his return with a 74-ball 81, serving to the Men in Green chase down 242 with seven wickets and 17.three overs to spare. While Pakistan saved their semi-final hopes alive with the win, Bangladesh had been all however knocked out of the World Cup.

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“All credit to the boys the way we played in all three departments. We know, if Fakhar bats for 20-30 overs, it’s a different ball game, he played his natural game. Good to see him do it,” Babar mentioned after the match.

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Babar hoped Pakistan’s win would give them confidence, heading into the ultimate two league video games in opposition to New Zealand (4 November) and England (11 November).

“This win hopefully gives confidence in the coming matches. Shaheen started well with the ball. After 15-20 overs, they built a partnership. But our main bowlers struck. Main thing was our bowlers hit good lengths and took wickets. Thanks to the fans for supporting me and my team,” added Babar.

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan rued his staff’s dissatisfied efficiency with the bat, and lamented that his staff’s prime 4 batters had not acquired the specified runs.

“Not enough runs, The wicket was really good, we lost early wickets again. There were some partnerships, but not big partnerships. Disappointing with the bat. Credit should go to Pakistan, the way they bowled and the way they batted in the first 10 overs,” mentioned Shakib.

“We’ll have to think about that (Shakib’s batting position). We are not getting many runs from the top four batsmen. I was batting in the top four, I wasn’t scoring. My confidence was low too. Luckily I got some runs, felling better now. At this moment, changing too many things gets difficult,” added the 36-year-old.

Shakib burdened on the significance of a collective efficiency. “We have to perform together. We need collective performance, which is not happening. Two more matches, hopefully we can bounce back. Everywhere we go, they (fans) keep supporting us. We have to give something back to them so they can smile” concluded the all-rounder.