• Pakitan won their inaugural T20 WC in 2009.
• Razzaq recalls how fans honored the national team.
• He revealed his talk with Shahid Afridi ahead of the final match.

Former Pakistani cricketer Abdul Razzaq recalls how Pakistani supporters honored the team after they won the 2009 T20 World Cup.

In an interview published by the PCB on the occasion of the twelfth anniversary of Pakistan’s success at the 2009 T20 World Cup, Razzaq said that Pakistanis were so helpful toward them around the world.

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“We received a lot of love from Pakistanis after we won T20 World Cup,” he said. “So many times, Pakistani restaurant owners refused to take money from us, just because we gave a trophy to Pakistan,” he recalled.

Before walking to the field for the final, Razzaq also revealed his interaction with Shahid Afridi.

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💬 Winning the T20 World Cup in 2009 is an achievement I can always be proud of 💬@ARazzaqPak recounts the joy of Pakistan's victorious campaign and the motivation before the final against Sri Lanka 🏆🇵🇰#WeHaveWeWill pic.twitter.com/xR9f6VVx7V

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) June 21, 2022

“Afridi and I were part of the team that lost to Australia in the World Cup final in 1999 at Lord’s,” Razzaq told PCB Digital. “That was fresh in our minds. We spoke about how devastating a defeat in a world cup final can be. We promised each other that we will not let this final end as that one and alter the course of history,” he maintained.

“The captain [Younis Khan] and the team management used to tell us how big of an opportunity this was to win a world cup and how this event in England provided us an opportunity to be heroes as there is a lot of hype surrounding cricket in that part of the world,” he concluded.

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