Mohammad Haris, the captain of Pakistan A, recently led his team to victory in the Emerging Asia Cup 2023, with a stunning win in the final against India A to lift the trophy. While the Pakistani fans celebrated the triumph, some critics raised concerns about the match being perceived as a clash between ‘senior players’ from Pakistan and the ‘young brigade’ from India.
Pakistan’s team included several players with international cricket experience, including their captain Haris, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shahnawaz Dahani, and Saim Ayub, who had limited exposure at the international level. On the other hand, India A was composed mostly of young and inexperienced players, with 20-year-old Yash Dhull leading the team.
Haris strongly refuted the criticism that Pakistan had an unfair advantage over India due to their ‘seniority’. He dismissed such claims, highlighting that even the Pakistani players with international experience had only played a few matches, all in the T20 format. Speaking on a Podcast, without mentioning the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) by name, Haris stated that Pakistan never requested India to send inexperienced players to the tournament.
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He clarified, “People are saying that Pakistan sent a team with many seniors. We did not ask them to send little kids to the tournament. They say that we had international experience in our team. How much international cricket have we played? Saim has played 5 matches, I have played 6. In contrast, their (India players) team had a combined experience of 260 IPL matches.”
It is worth noting that India A had previously defeated Pakistan A in the tournament, winning by a significant margin of eight wickets. However, in the final, the Indian team couldn’t replicate the same performance. Up until the final, India A remained unbeaten in all their matches. Nevertheless, in the ultimate clash, Pakistan A emerged victorious by a massive margin of 128 runs. Pakistan A scored a commanding 352 for 8 in 50 overs, while India A was bowled out for just 224 in 40 overs.