CARDIFF: England’s man-of-the-match against Pakistan in first ODI, Saqib Mahmood believes that the early wicket of Babar Azam gave some sort of relief to his team.
While addressing a post-match press conference after receiving his match-winning award, Saqib said he couldn’t believe of taking two early wickets to take his team on the top.
“I got a fine start by taking two wickets in the first over. Especially that wicket of Babar was very important for us. Had he stayed for long, he could have made a difference. Luckily, we got him out earlier,” he said.
Saqib said the last few days were very surprising for him as he spent Tuesday in Manchester and a sudden call for national duty ended up here. “I was in Manchester. Nobody from the late call-ups would have expected this. But, I am happy to get this chance and performing for my team,” he shared. Saqib expressed high hopes to continue match-winning performance at The Lord’s and Edgbaston in the next two matches. “I will try my best to continue this performance in upcoming games. Also, I am excited to play in front of house full at Lord’s and 80 percent crowd in Edgbaston,” he concluded.
It must be noted here that Saqib bagged his career-best figures of 4-42 against Pakistan in the first ODI which England won by nine wickets. – Agencies
