'Was nice for him to walk off' - Wasim Jaffer praises Fakhar Zaman for showing sportsman spirit

India completed a perfect victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in their tournament opener of the 2022 T20 Asia Cup, played at the Dubai International Stadium on August 28 (Sunday). Batting first, Pakistan had the worst possible start as they lost their skipper Babar Azam early in the innings.

Babar was then replaced by Fakhar Zaman as he, along with batter Mohammad Rizwan tried to stabilize the innings. However, Fakhar’s innings was cut short after the left-handed batter decided to walk away after edging a pacy delivery from Avesh Khan. To note, India players did not appeal for the caught behind, but Fakhar showed sportsmanship and walked back to the pavilion without waiting for the umpire’s decision.

Have seen the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Brian Lara do the same: Wasim Jaffer

Meanwhile, former Indian batter Wasim Jaffer has lauded Fakhar for his sportsman spirit and said that it was a very nice gesture from him.

“When I saw that I didn’t believe that he (Fakhar) had edged it, but the snicko meter made it evident. It was nice for him to walk off from the ground. Previously, we have seen the likes of Adam Gilchrist and Brian Lara who used to walk away and did not wait for the umpire’s decision, but in modern-day cricket, we don’t see that often,” Jaffer said on BatBricks7 Presents Run Ki Runneeti show on CricTracker.

“In today’s game, players and captains can use the DRS, so If Fakhar had not walked away maybe Rohit had taken a review, but it was a very nice gesture and a great sportsmanship shown by him,” Jaffer added.

Talking about the game, team Pakistan finished their innings on 147/10 in 19.5 overs. In reply, batters Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, and Hardik Pandya played some crucial knocks with the bat as the Men in Blue completed a win over their arch-rivals Pakistan in their opening encounter of the Asia Cup.