Pakistan were defeated by England by 67 runs in the last Twenty20 International on Sunday in Lahore, giving the visitors a 4-3 series win. England, who were invited to bat first by Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, put up a magnificent batting show, scoring a stunning 209/3 in 20 overs.
In response, Pakistan got off to a disastrous start, losing star duo Babar and Mohammad Rizwan in the first two overs. Shan Masood fought back with a 43-ball 56 but Pakistan could only reach 142/8 in 20 overs.
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However, local spectators were heard yelling hostile chants at middle-order batsman Khushdil Shah throughout the match, which was deemed inappropriate. The incident occurred after Shah was dismissed with a score of 27 from 25 balls.
When Khushdil Shah was walking back to the pavilion after being dismissed, a large section of fans chanted “Parchi, Parchi”.
Parchi means receipt but is generally used in a derogatory fashion by a Pakistan cricket fans. They mean that the player is not in the team on merit.
The reaction by the crowd was condemned by Pakistan batter Imam-ul-Haq, who requested the fans to avoid such behaviour. “I would like to request our fans to avoid such rants at any player as it can badly impact the player’s health and try to support them like you always do, regardless of the results. We play for YOU, we play for PAKISTAN,” Imam tweeted
In the recent past, Abdul Qadir’s son Usman was called parchi player by the fans, prompting Wasim Akram to speak out on his defence.
“Sometimes this ‘parchi’ tag angers me, especially when people say Usman Qadir is a parchi. This is not cricket being played in the local neighbourhood (Yeh muhallay kee cricket naheen hai). Here, if someone is good enough, he will play for Pakistan,” Akram had then said.
Shah ended the series with 63 runs from four innings after appearing in five of the seven matches.
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