Pakistan were beaten by England in the T20 World Cup final (Picture: Getty)
Babar Azam bemoaned Shaheen Afridi’s untimely injury after Pakistan’s T20 World Cup final defeat to England.
Shaheen took 1-13 from his first two overs but could only deliver one ball of his third over before hobbling off.
The 22-year-old left-armer appeared to injure his knee when taking a catch to dismiss England batter Harry Brook.
Pakistan only made 137-8 but appeared back in the game as England slipped to 85-4 and then struggled to find fluency to need 45 from 31.
But Iftikhar Ahmed conceded 13 from five balls after completing the 16th over and from there on England were in control, reaching the target with six balls to spare.
Pakistan captain Babar said: ‘First of all congratulations to England, they deserve to be champions.
‘We felt at home. Everyone who has come to support us at every venue, thank you so much.
Shaheen Afridi could only bowl 13 balls before he hobbled off (Picture: Getty)
‘The first two games we lost but the way the team bounced back was unbelievable, credit to my team.
‘I just said to play your natural game, play with freedom. But we were 20 runs short. Still, the fight right until the end was unbelievable.
‘Our bowling is one of the best attacks in the world and we started well in the first six overs.
‘Unfortunately Shaheen injured himself and that cost us, maybe it would have been a different result, but that’s part of the game.’
England are now double World Cup champions as they also hold the 50-over title following their remarkable victory in the 2019 tournament.
Mark Wood, who was a key player for England in the group stage but missed both the final and semi-final through injury, said: ‘I am delighted. We are double champions! It is a great feeling.
‘I am so pleased for everyone in the group. Ben Stokes was magnificent at the end there, and Sam Curran has been class in the whole tournament.
England are now champions in T20 and 50-over cricket (Picture: Getty)
‘I am so pleased for David Willey too, after missing out in the 50-over World Cup, he’s got his medal.
‘I’m so pleased for Jos too, I could just keep going and going. We’ve got a fantastic togetherness in the group.
‘Ben Stokes is the man you want in this situations, he’s a legend. At times he didn’t hit them as cleanly as he wanted but he was there at the end. Time and time again he is the man for us.’
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Pakistan suffered a disappointing defeat.
