'Had Shaheen Afridi not been injured': Sachin Tendulkar on England's win over Pakistan to clinch T20 World Cup

Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar praised the England team on clinching the T20 World Cup crown at Melbourne but rued the injury to Pakistan ace pacer Shaheen Afridi.

Despite scoring 137-8, Pakistan fought well with the ball till the very end though Shaheen Afridi went off the field after bowling the first ball of the 16th over due to issues with his right knee, which resurfaced after taking a catch of Harry Brook in the 13th over, tilted the match in England's favour.

As Shaheen Afridi left the field after bowling just one ball, Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali took advantage of it. Though Ali was clean bowled by a brilliant yorker from Wasim Jr. in the 19th over, Stokes reached his fifty in 47 balls with a controlled drive past deep cover. He fittingly finished off the chase with a single through the on-side to secure England's win.

The Master Blaster took social media to react to England's win.

Congratulations England on winning your 2nd T20 World Cup. Fantastic achievement. It was a closely fought final and would’ve been even more interesting had Shaheen Afridi not been injured. What a roller coaster of a World Cup.

Coming to the match, England beat Pakistan by five wickets to win the title on Sunday.

Opting to field, England dished out a clinical bowling performance to restrict Pakistan to a below-par 137 for 8 before chasing down the target with six balls to spare at the MCG.

Pakistan never had any momentum in their innings. Babar Azam (32), Mohammad Rizwan (15), Shan Masood (38) and Shadab Khan (20) were the only ones who reached double figures.

Sam Curran (3/12) did most of the damage with three wickets, while Adil Rashid (2/22) and Chris Jordan (2/27) snapped two each. In reply, England were 45 for three in the sixth over but Ben Stokes (52 not out) produced a gritty fifty to take his team home.

Jos Buttler (26), Harry Brook (20) and Moeen Ali (19) were the other contributors.