Naseem Shah reflects on the agony of Pakistan's narrow defeat to India in 2024 T20 World Cup

Naseem Shah opened up about Pakistan's close loss to India in the 2024 T20 World Cup, where they were defeated by six runs.

Despite his impressive bowling performance, where he took 3-21, including the crucial wicket of Virat Kohli—who had an exceptional record against Pakistan—Shah felt the weight of the defeat heavily.

Pakistan needed 16 runs off the last three balls when Naseem came to the crease. He managed to hit two boundaries, but the situation had already slipped out of control.

He mentioned that such intense matches bring up strong emotions and personal thoughts, which he often keeps to himself.

"There are a lot of emotions attached with such matches. I did not expect [the result to turn out how it did]. There are some things that you keep to yourself. A lot had pent-up and a lot of things flashed in front of me at that point... There have been very few moments in life when I have felt the need to have someone who can talk positively to me," Naseem told Cricbuzz.

Shah also revealed his deep passion for winning, saying that even though he wasn’t directly blamed by fans or the media, he couldn’t find solace in his own performance because the team lost.

"Though I was not being targeted by the fans or the media, one cannot be satisfied and say I did my bit after your team loses. I am a person who wants to win. I get disappointed even when I lose while playing at home or in my street. I play to win and the World Cup exit pained me a lot.

"People come up to me in restaurants and ask me why we lost. Even my relatives have asked about it. I understand their sentiments are driven by the social media and, as a player, all I can do is listen to them.

"There are times when you feel that you cannot put up with it anymore. But, it also burns a desire for a comeback. People had many questions to ask and there was a lot of frustration in them, which is understandable. Now, we have an opportunity to win the hearts again by playing good cricket."