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NISSHIN: In the thrilling Asian Games 2026 men\u2019s cricket competition final here at the Karogi Sports Park on Saturday, rising Pakistani batsman Hasan Nawaz was highly praised by former national cricket players Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Yousuf for his courageous half-century against arch-rivals India.<\/strong><\/p>\n With a gritty 96, which is currently the highest individual score by a Pakistani batter against India in a T20I, Nawaz, whose last short-format appearance prior to the Asian Games semi-final against Bangladesh came in November last year, led the Green Shirts\u2019 resilience in the recently concluded high-octane match.<\/p>\n Reigning world champions India chose to bat first in the gold-medal match and amassed a massive total of 211\/6 in their 20 overs thanks to scorching half-centuries from middle-order Tilak Varma and opener Abhishek Sharma.<\/p>\n Set to chase a challenging 212-run target, Pakistan had a rough start as they lost the top order, including captain Sahibzada Farhan, inside seven overs with just 39 runs on the board.<\/p>\n Nawaz, 24, went out to bat at No. 4 amid the collapse of the top order. The 24-year-old unleashed a battering ram on the Indian bowlers, hitting five fours and seven sixes, the joint-most by a Pakistani batter in a T20 innings.<\/p>\n His scorching knock kept Pakistan in the hunt, but his efforts were in vain due to the lack of assistance from the other side, particularly after Saim Ayub left in the fifteenth over.<\/p>\n Nawaz had the chance to become the first batter in history to achieve a century in a Pakistan-India Twenty20 International, even though the Green Shirts were unable to meet the asking rate by the final delivery since they needed 20 runs.<\/p>\n As a result, former captain and renowned all-rounder Afridi praised his tough knock, calling it \u201cabsolute quality\u201d and \u201cgold-medal worthy.\u201d<\/p>\n Afridi strongly commended the performance, writing on X, \u201cWhat a knock by Hassan Nawaz! That was absolute quality, a gold medal-worthy innings in every sense.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, India just played better overall cricket and earned the win. Heads up boys, loved the fight!\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Yousuf reiterated Afridi\u2019s comments, calling Nawaz\u2019s performance against India \u201cstrong\u201d and commending the batter for continuing his international cricket career.<\/p>\n On the site for microblogging, Yousuf posted, commenting, \u201c[Hassan Nawaz] delivered a strong performance, picking up right where he left off in international cricket, Pakistan finding bits and pieces to make it count.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n