'Asif played with four stitches in his hand. Shadab’s ear was bleeding'- Pakistan's coach Saqlin Mushtaq on players' dedication

In the Asia Cup 2022 final, Pakistan was defeated by Sri Lanka by a margin of 23 runs. Babar Azam and co went from 99/3 to 147 all-out in the contest. Earlier in the game, Sri Lanka had put on an impressive batting display. They managed to score 170 runs, despite being five wickets down for a score of 58.

Asif Ali, their star finisher known for his attacking batting, was dismissed for a golden duck as Pakistan failed to complete the 171-run chase. Shadab Khan, another premier all-rounder from Pakistan, also had a forgettable outing, scoring only 8 runs off 6 balls. Despite the poor performance, their coach, Saqlin Mushtaq, was very impressed with their character, revealing that the duo batted despite being in pain.

Mushtaq stated during the post-match conference that Asif played with four stitches on his hand, while Shadab was concussed after colliding with the former while fielding. "Asif ke haath mey chaar taanke lage hue hai. Shadab ke kaan me se khoon nikal raha, usko concussion ka tha fir bhi batting karne ke liye gaya (Asia played with four stitches in his hand. Shadab’s ear was bleeding, he was concussed after the Collison and despite all of this he went to bat)," said the coach.

We are not doing badly: Saqlain Mushtaq

He also defended his batters despite the middle-order collapse, saying any criticism is unwarranted. Mohammad Rizwan scored 55 runs in 49 balls for Pakistan and finished the tournament with 281 runs in six innings. Saqlain, on the other hand, was unconcerned about Rizwan's slow strike rate of 117.57 runs per hundred balls in the high-octane format.

"I have been hearing people question the middle order. But I don't understand why? Series whitewash against WI, semi-final in the T20 world cup, final here, we are not doing badly. In the small format, minute mistakes are not small, the impact of a small mistake is big. We have made such small mistakes. We will try not to commit those mistakes in the future," the coach said.