Virender Sehwag takes a jibe at Pakistan selectors as Fakhar Zaman slams quick-fire ton vs New Zealand in 2023 World Cup

As a result of their horror World Cup campaign so far, Pakistan are on the brink of elimination, so all the remaining games are crucial for them. The Men in Green, however, managed to pull off a record chase against New Zealand on Saturday, November 4 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. With this win, they kept their semi-final hopes alive, while New Zealand are in a spot of bother. 

Advertisment

After being asked to bat first, New Zealand posted a mammoth total of 401-6 in 50 overs. Rachin Ravindra and Kane Williamson put on a stellar show by adding 180 runs for the second wicket. Ravindra notched up his third century of the tournament, while Williamson fell short of just 5 runs of a well-deserved hundred. After that, effective cameos from their middle-order batters led them to cross the 400-run mark.

Chasing a humongous total, Pakistan got off to a horror start as they lost opener Abdullah Shafique cheaply in the second over. However, Fakhar Zaman counter-attacked with powerful shots to help Pakistan be in the hunt. The southpaw brought up his 11th ODI century in just 63 balls - the fastest World Cup ton by a Pakistani batter. 

Former India opener Virender Sehwag was impressed by Zaman's blazing knock and his intent while chasing a 400-plus target. Sehwag took to his X (formerly known as Twitter) handle to applaud the batter while also questioning the decision to drop the 33-year-old from the initial games. He also took a jibe at Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq, who had earlier said that the team hasn't hit a lot of sixes because of less protein consumption. 

Advertisment

"What an innings by Fakhar Zaman, by far Pakistan’s best batter. Which brains kept him on the bench for the best part of the tournament, God knows. Protein ki bhi kami nahin, jajbe ki bhi (no lack of protein and intent)," the 45-year-old tweeted. 

What an innings by Fakhar Zaman, by far Pakistan’s best batter. Which brains kept him on the bench for the best part of the tournament, God knows.
Protein ki bhi kami nahin, jajbe ki bhi . #NZvsPak pic.twitter.com/t6GdvKRjJ5

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) November 4, 2023

Advertisment

Fakhar Zaman's sensational knock helps Pakistan beat New Zealand 

Undoubtedly, one of the best World Cup performances by a Pakistan batter. Rain always threatened to spoil the game so it was essential for Pakistan to start aggressively and keep the momentum going. Fakhar Zaman was well aware of the situation and smashed the Kiwi bowlers around the park. His 81-ball 126 proved more than crucial as Pakistan claimed a 21-run win through the DLS method after rain made its appearance in the 26th over. 

Speaking after the game, Zaman said: "We were chasing 400 and that was our plan, just to see off the first 4 overs and thankfully it was my day. We know every game is a do or die for us and we have decided to play aggressively and we are playing with that mind so everybody is just trying to score runs. This is one of the best (knocks in ODI cricket) but I will always rank my 193 in South Africa highly, but I really enjoyed this game and New Zealand are a great side, so definitely one of the best. We knew that DLS would come into the equation. We wanted to play with that aggressive mindset and we will play aggressively in the next game also."