Former cricketers praise Hasan Nawaz for valiant knock against India

NISSHIN: Former national cricketers Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Yousuf heaped praise on emerging Pakistan batter Hasan Nawaz for his gutsy half-century against arch-rivals India in the blockbuster Asian Games 2026 men's cricket competition final here at the Korogi Sports Park on Saturday.

Nawaz, whose last shortest-format appearance before the Asian Games semi-final against Bangladesh came in November last year, spearheaded Green Shirts' resilience in the recently concluded high-octane match with a gritty 96, which is now the highest individual score by a Pakistani batter against India in a T20I.

Opting to bat first in the gold-medal match, reigning world champions India piled up a mammoth total of 211/6 in their 20 overs, courtesy of blistering half-centuries by opener Abhishek Sharma and middle-order Tilak Varma.

Set to chase a daunting 212-run target, Pakistan had a shaky start as they lost the top order, also featuring captain Sahibzada Farhan, inside seven overs with just 39 runs on the board.

Amid the top-order collapse, Nawaz walked out to bat at No.4, and the 24-year-old launched a baton charge on the Indian bowlers, which saw him smash seven sixes, the joint-most by a Pakistani batter in a T20I innings, coupled with five fours.

His blistering knock kept Pakistan in the hunt, but negligible support from the other end, especially after the departure of Saim Ayub in the 15th over, saw his efforts go in vain.

Nawaz was eventually dismissed on the final delivery of the innings, agonisingly short of his well-deserved century, which would have been his second in the shortest format.

Although the asking rate by the final delivery had run out of the Green Shirts' reach as they were required 20 runs, Nawaz had the opportunity to become the first batter overall to score a century in a Pakistan-India T20I.

His resilient knock consequently earned praise from former captain and legendary all-rounder Afridi, who described it as "absolute quality" and "gold-medal worthy".

"What a knock by Hassan Nawaz! That was absolute quality, a gold medal-worthy innings in every sense," Afridi wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

"At the end of the day, India just played better overall cricket and earned the win. Heads up boys, loved the fight!"

Yousuf echoed Afridi's remarks, describing Nawaz's performance against India as "strong" and praising the batter for picking up from where he left off in international cricket.

"[Hassan Nawaz] delivered a strong performance, picking up right where he left off in international cricket, Pakistan finding bits and pieces to make it count," Yousuf wrote on the microblogging website.