'To those who were forced to leave Pakistan to...' - Ibrahim Zadran comes up with bold statement after getting POTM award against Pakistan

Star Afghanistan opening batter Ibrahim Zadran smashed a match-defining knock of 87 runs, hitting 10 fours helping Afghanistan to chase down the target in 49 overs for the loss of 2 wickets, and won the match by a margin of 8 wickets. He won the ‘Player of the Match award for his knock.

He also stitched an amazing partnership of 130 runs for the first wicket with his opening partner Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Gurbaz also smashed 65 runs off 53 balls. The duo provided a brilliant start to Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Ibrahim Zadran made a bold and blunt statement during the post-match presentation while getting awarded ‘Player of the Match. He dedicated his ‘Player of the Match award to the Afghan refugees who were forced to leave Pakistan by the government.

"I am feeling happy for myself and for my country. I want to dedicate this man of the match award to those who are sent back to Afghanistan from Pakistan," said Zadran to Ramiz Raja during the post-match presentation.

"I wanted to go out there with a positive mind and positive intent, and I did it. We (Gurbaz and himself) have played a lot of cricket, with each other, we have good communication while running between the wickets as we have been playing together, since under-16 days. The way Gurbaz supported me - that helped me and we got the momentum in our favour. I am feeling great for myself and my country," he added later.

Here's the video:

I dedicate this MoM award to Afghan Refugees who were forced to leave Pakistan - Ibrahim Zadran#PAKvsAFG #AFGvsPAK #WorldCup2023 pic.twitter.com/FshePTWgWn

— Ravi Kaushik  (@RaviKaushik99) October 23, 2023

Speaking of the action of the match, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam won the toss and decided to bat first. Batting first, Pakistan posted 282 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in the allotted 50 overs. Skipper Babar Azam scored 74 runs, alongside Abdullah Shafique’s 58 runs. Other than these two, Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed also scored 40 runs each.

While chasing the target, Afghanistan crossed the line comfortably, scoring 286 runs for the loss of 2 wickets in 49 overs, winning the match by 8 wickets.