T20 World Cup 2022: Irfan Pathan and Imran Nazir engage in Twitter debate over Pakistan fans' celebration after semi-final win

Veteran India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has issued a clarification after one of his tweets for Pakistan invited criticism from the cricket fans of the neighbouring country. This happened during the first semifinal of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 between Pakistan and New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday, November 9.

It so happened that after the Babar Azam-led side beat the Kiwis by seven wickets to seal a place in the final, some of the Pakistani fans not only trolled their Indian counterparts on social media, but there were some distasteful comments as well.

This did not go down well with Irfan as he came forward and criticized that section of the fans by saying, “Padosiyon jeet ati jaati rehti hai, lekin GRACE apke bas ki baat nahi hai”.

In another tweet he mentioned, “AND this is not for the player. NEVER.

Irfan's tweet was not received well by former Pakistan opener Imran Nazir and he replied to Irfan's tweet by saying "Sad to see such tweet."

Irfan was quick to respond to Nazir's reply and tweeted, "You would have been saddest to see the behaviour of some of pak fans at the ground after the win."

It seemed as if Imran was waiting for a response as no sooner Irfan put out his tweet, former Pakistan opener tried defending the perspective of the country and said, "Not sure what happened there, not advocating any rude/offensive behaviour but few fans don’t reflect whole nation. Stay blessed Irfan."

Pakistan reach their first World Cup final after 13 years

Coming back to the contest, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson won a crucial toss and elected to bat on a dry wicket. The batters failed to apply themselves well as the Pakistani bowlers struck at regular intervals. Williamson scored a valiant 46 runs before being castled by Shaheen Afridi. Daryl Mitchell’s superb knock of an unbeaten 35-ball 53 took them to a respectable total of 152/4.

In reply, the BlackCaps had Pakistan captain Babar Azam dropped for nought and there was no looking back from thereon as he and Mohammad Rizwan both roared back to form with match-winning half-centuries. The duo added 105 runs for the opening stand. Babar scored 53 runs off 42 balls while Rizwan made a 43-ball 57.

Both batters could not add finishing touches, but the solid foundation laid by them was good enough to help Pakistan make a World Cup final appearance for the first time after 2009. The Men in Green would now face the winner of India and England at the MCG on Sunday, November 13.