Believe, live in the present moment and positive intent were the three instructions shared in the Pakistani dressing room as they headed out to achieve an improbable task of chasing down a mammoth target in the fourth innings at Galle Cricket Stadium.
The Men in Green stood tall at the end of the match as they created history by chasing down 342 runs in the final innings, the highest ever run-chase at the venue.
Abdullah Shafique was the star of the show as he struck a magnificent century to steer the run-chase. Shafique’s masterclass innings of 160* off 408 balls earned him the player of the match award and also plaudits from the cricketing community all over the world.
Shafique was ably supported by captain Babar Azam, who scored yet another half-century, and vice-captain, Mohammad Rizwan, who played a gritty innings of 40 runs.
After achieving the feat, Mohammad Rizwan took to Twitter to explain Pakistan’s strategy as they took the field.
Rizwan thanked the Pakistan team management including head coach, Saqlain Mushtaq, assistant coach, Shahid Aslam, and batting coach, Mohammad Yousuf, for providing the whole squad with the motivation and belief to carry out a historic feat.
Rizwan’s tweet gathered a positive response from the cricketing fraternity on Twitter as they congratulated the team on a magnificent achievement. His tweet gathered 5,000 likes and 450 retweets. The picture is also being widely shared by social media users.