Skipper Haris reveals how loss against India A motivated Shaheens for final

Pakistan Shaheens have departed from Sri Lanka today after successfully defending ACC Men’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup title. Shaheens defeated India A in the final by a comprehensive 128-run margin at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday evening.

Shaheens finished second in their group, beating Nepal and UAE A by four wickets and 184 runs, respectively. In the third fixture, Shaheens went down against India A by eight wickets.

Top two teams from each group qualified for the semi-finals held on Friday, 21 July. Sri Lanka A, table-toppers from Group A, took on Pakistan Shaheens, while India A, who finished at the top of Group B, played Bangladesh A.

After going down to India A, Shaheens staged a remarkable comeback and defeated Sri Lanka A by 60 runs to qualify for their second successive final. Arshad Iqbal’s maiden List A five wicket haul and Omair Bin Yousuf’s 88 lifted Shaheens to victory.

In the final, Shaheens were unstoppable from the first ball of the match, and a comprehensive all-round performance led by Tayyab’s century guided Shaheens to lift the trophy.

After successfully defending the title, wicketkeeper-batter and captain Mohammad Haris opened up about the entire journey.

Haris, behind the stumps, had six dismissals to his name, which included four catches and two stumpings.

Mohammad Haris said: “We are all very excited after beating India A in the final. The good thing is the senior team is here and they too celebrating the win, providing us with extra motivation.

“When we lost against India A in the group stage, it gave us a good wake-up call, and there is always a great learning from the loss. We were confident in our ability to learn from our mistakes and were determined to beat India A in the final.

“The players responded exceptionally well as we tried different combinations in the tournament. We tried to give ample opportunities to players and the team benefitted significantly.

“The support staff worked really hard with the players, during the camp in Lahore and here in Sri Lanka. They backed the players, worked tirelessly with them and the results are for everyone to see.

“I had talked to a few Pakistan men’s senior players before the final. Babar Azam’s pep talk to the team on the eve of the final greatly motivated the players.

“For me the win was very satisfying as I have participated in two finals (ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and ACC Men’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup), and now with the ACC title triumph, I will celebrate this win in a grand manner.”