Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi perhaps could not expect anything better from their opening match in the ICC World Twenty20 against Bangladesh in Kolkata on Wednesday.
A typical whirlpool innings of 49 runs from 19 balls, two crucial wickets for 27 runs and his side’s crushing 55-run certainly made the day a totally satisfied one for the under-fire Pakistan captain.
But what came equally satisfying to him is the support that his team enjoyed in Kolkata during the match at the Eden Gardens.
Bangladesh, playing their first match at the famous ground in 26 years, were expected to get more support from the local fans because of their close proximity to venue and similarity in language and culture.
Before the match Bangladesh skipper Mashrafee bin Murtaza also hoped that a large part of the fans will cheer for them against Pakistan, generally known as bitter rivals of India.
With Pakistan due to take on India in their next match at the same venue, it was also expected that Indian fans would want Bangladesh to put Pakistan under more pressure before the crucial game.
Much to the dismay of Bangladesh team, the gallery sided with Pakistan and Bangladesh’s support was limited handful visitors, who defied many odds to come to the neighbouring Indian city.
Mashrafee, however, played down the significance of the support saying that it did not affect their game.
‘It’s not that we did not get any support at all,’ said Mashrafee. ‘The main thing is that we could not play according to our plan.’
Pakistan’s unexpected support from the gallery at least justified Afridi’s ‘more loved in India’ comment, which prompted former Pakistani cricketers to criticise him heavily.
Despite Afridi’s comments, Pakistan batsman Mohammad Hafeez said they were also surprised to see so much support from Indian fans.
‘We expected the crowd to support us, but not this much,’ said Hafeez who top-scored for Pakistan with 64 off 42 balls. ‘Even they were chanting slogans Pakistan Jitega, Pakistan Jitega. It was really surprising.’
Visiting Pakistani journalists said Indian fans were always generous towards their cricket team and their last visit to the country was largely incident free.
‘The only problem in the last tour was an on-field argument between Gautam Gambhir and Kamran Akmal,’ said Shahid Hashmi, the sports editor of ARY TV, referring to the Twenty20 match in Bangalore.
Pakistan last toured in India in 2012-13 when they played three one-day internationals and two Twenty20 Internationals.
-With New Age input
