Sarfraz Ahmad gives away his match fee of the third T20 to ground staff as an appreciation
Clearly favourites for this match, Pakistan did not only win the third T20 in Karachi today but also won hearts in more ways than one. Captain of the winning team, Sarfraz Ahmad, in a sporting and very generous gesture, announced that he would be giving away his match fee to the ground staff as a token of appreciation for preparing tough pitches such as the National Stadium, Karachi.
The gesture has been widely applauded on Twitter, and one has to acknowledge the fact that although a pitch can make or break a game, yet the ground staff is seldom thought of by cricket fans.
Ahmad has recently been in the news for being honoured with the Sitara-e-Imtiaz, the third highest civil award of Pakistan, along with former Captains Younis Khan, Misbah ul Haq and Shahid Afridi.
Notably, he is the youngest cricketer to have been bestowed this honour. The cricketers were honoured on the occasion of Pakistan day. Today's gesture has given Ahmad's fans only more reasons to respect him.
Ahmad and the team under him have been having a good run. Since September 2017, Ahmad has lead Pakistan through a mightily successful run of seven consecutive T20 wins.
Although Pakistan beat West Indies by 8 wickets in what was a neat 3-0 finish to the series, the home crowd did not make the Windies feel any less welcome. The air of welcome warmth in the stadium was evident by the spirited shouts of the sporting crowd going "West Indies! West Indies! West Indies!" as the team collected their medals.
The advantage of the home crowd, of course, is one that cannot be underestimated, and the Man of the Match, Fakhar Zaman, was quick to acknowledge it. Zaman said, "It feels so special playing cricket at home, in front of your own fans - there is no feeling quite like it." Even the West Indies head coach chimed in with the home crowd advantage, saying that he felt sorry for the Pakistan team as they don't get to play enough in front of their home fans.
The match in itself was a close one, with Denesh Ramdin giving the Pakistani team some nail-biting moments.