The newly appointed Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Zaka Ashraf committed a hilarious blunder on July 19, Wednesday, stating that Shaheen Afridi is the top 10 batter in the world. The 23-year-old, currently known as one of the best fast bowlers in the world, is in ninth place on the ICC ODI bowling rankings, but he is nowhere near the top 10 of the batting rankings.
Zaka Ashraf, who became the chairman of a 10-member committee of the PCB this July, was a part of the unveiling ceremony for the Asia Cup 2023 scheduled this Wednesday. Earlier, the initial announcement was made by the President of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), Jay Shah, who also holds the post of secretary in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
During the unveiling ceremony, the PCB chairman talked about the quality of the Pakistan cricket team in ODIs. He was quick to mention that the captain Babar Azam is the number-one batter in the world in 50-over cricket. Then, the 70-year-old alluded to other batters in the top 5, namely Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman.
Although, moments later, Zaka Ashraf went on to mistakenly utter these words, “Shaheen Shah Afridi jo hai, unka aap dekhe, toh top jo 10 hai batsmen, unka naam aata hai (If you see about Shaheen Shah Afridi, his name comes in the top 10 batsmen)”.
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Asia Cup 2023 kicks off from August 30 onwards
On July 19, Wednesday, it was announced that the Asia Cup 2023, the most prestigious continental cricket tournament, will be co-hosted in Pakistan and Sri Lanka from August 30 onwards, while the final will be played on September 17 of this year. There are six teams who will compete at this event, including India, Pakistan, and Nepal, who are in Group A, while Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka are in Group B.