KARACHI: Pakistan’s ICC T20 World Cup 2009 winning team will celebrate the monumental victory in the United States of America (USA). World Cup-winning captain Younis Khan, alongside Shahid Afridi, Misbah Ul Haq, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal attended the star-studded ceremony here on Monday. In a media briefing, it was revealed that the former cricketers will celebrate the title victory in different states of the US.

The celebration tour will commence on April 28 amid which the former cricketers will partake in the meet and greet sessions and will also be featuring in an exhibition match.

According to the event organizer, the purpose of the celebration tour is to promote cricket among the Pakistanis living in the US. Speaking on the occasion, World Cup-winning captain Younis Khan stated that he wished that the national team had won more titles during this period. “I wish we had won more cups during that time. I believe we should have had more titles,” said Khan. “For the first time, the 2009 victory will be celebrated in America. We want to celebrate this historic victory again,” he added. Pakistan’s hero of the semi-final and final Shahid Afridi revealed that he had high hopes for Babar Azam’s men but the national side failed to live up to that despite the conditions being in their favour.

“I had high hopes for this team. We had the players and the conditions were in our favour as well. We did not perform as per our skills,” said Afridi. Afridi further commented on the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the future of Babar Azam as Pakistan captain and threw his weight behind the latter to continue to lead the side on Australia tour. Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik also commented on the national team’s dismal campaign at the ICC World Cup 2023.

The all-rounder further stated that he does not hold any grudge towards Babar Azam and termed him a brilliant batter. “People think that I am against Babar Azam. There is nothing like that. He is a wonderful player. He is criticised due to his captaincy. I also believe that he can do wonders as a player,” Malik stated.

Meanwhile, another former cricketer from Pakistan’s 2009 T20 World Cup-winning squad Umar Gul, who is rumoured to be the top contender to replace Morne Morkel as Pakistan bowling coach, shared that he heard the news on social media. “I saw on social media that maybe I am being considered for bowling coach but I have not been contacted yet,” shared Gul.

Published in The Daily National Courier, November, 15 2023

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