Even after his team’s stunning victory over Pakistan in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in Chennai, star Afghanistan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq has no intention of changing his mind about calling it quits in one-day international cricket. Afghanistan’s victory over the Men in Green was their first in eight tries.
In an effort to extend his T20 career, Naveen-ul-Haq had previously stated that he will give up the 50-over format following the conclusion of the ODI World Cup. The pacer has made it clear that his choice is definite and that he would not reverse it. The 24-year-old continued by saying he would never forget Afghanistan’s historic triumph over two titans, Pakistan and England.
Not at all. In no way. The final choice I have made is that. Fortunately, I will cherish this World Cup and the victories over Pakistan and England for the rest of my life. In the forthcoming games, I’m hoping for the best,” Naveen was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
He continued by expressing his joy at helping the squad win and making the nation proud. “It truly means a lot to the citizens of our nation at home. You are aware of the circumstance at home. A few days ago, the earthquake also occurred [in Herat]. As a result, without cricket, life in the nation is not very happy. So at least we’ve brought them a little joy tonight,” he continued.
In the ODI World Cup, Afghanistan defeated Pakistan by eight wickets. Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first. Pakistan scored 282 runs in the allotted number of overs thanks to fifty-plus scores from Abdullah Shafique and Babar Azam. Noor Ahmad, who took three wickets in his entire quota, was Afghanistan’s preferred bowler.
Mohammad Nabi and Azmatullah Omarzai each secured one key wicket, while Naveen-ul-Haq claimed two.
Before Rahmat Shah and captain Hashmatullah Shahidi produced a 94-run stand to enable Afghanistan chase the mark with one over and eight wickets to spare, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadram got things going well with a 130-run partnership.